War and Relationships
by FrayGray
Summary: Adeline Potter has had an agreeable life alongside her brother James. But times are changing as a war brews around them from outside the walls of Hogwarts. Their parents are the lead Aurors heading all investigations while their friends one-by-one vow to join the fight once they graduate. But Addie will be faced with more troubles than just Death Eaters. *I do not own Harry Potter.
1. The Beginning of Everything

**So this is my second story which honestly came out of no where. I am extremely excited about it since it's nothing I ever considered in writing and takes place in Marauder-era. I will probably take longer to update this one than Trials of a Brave Heart since I'm throwing around a few ideas but am very dedicated and will keep readers updated about where I'm at. I also know this first chapter is short but it separates things nicely and I wanted to keep it like this. I also have some chapters already lined up so I will be updating on at least a weekly basis until further notice.**

 **Also just a breakdown of the timeline. This chapter gives an introduction based when James and Adeline are quite young. The next chapter however jumps to when they are in fifth and fourth years respectively and then it will jump again to their seventh and sixth. From then it will progress on its own. I will however spend a fair amount of time explaining the events as they play out following this beginning chapter. Just thought it would be helpful to let readers know!**

 **XXXX**

Euphemia Potter stood looking out the kitchen window which looked out onto the sprawling yard of Potter Manor. She watched as her son gave flying lessons to her daughter, who was only a year younger than him.

"At it again are they?" Fleamont Potter asked as he came into the room and went to join his wife by the window. "That's every day so far since they've been home."

"Yes, well with James having made the team, Adeline is pretty keen to make it this year," Euphemia replied as she kept her gaze on the two children.

"Addie sure doesn't like to let James do anything to one up her," Fleamont chuckled as he went over to make tea for him and his wife.

"Sometimes I worry James will lead her into trouble though," Euphemia said with pursed lips.

Fleamont chucked again. "Darling, Addie is much too good for that."

Euphemia smiled in response and turned to face husband.

"That or she's just smarter than James and gets away with it," she countered. "We get a letter nearly every week from the school outlining James' antics, but we are yet to receive one about Adeline. And they are much too close for me to believe she's not just as mischievous."

Fleamont came over and gave a cup to his wife who then went to sit down at the dining table. It was still early enough in the morning that the sun was only just peeking over the tree line. The children had woken up hours before and eaten a quick breakfast before heading outside where they had been for the past two hours. Euphemia had heard the children wake and got up herself soon after, but by the time she arrived downstairs, the house-elf had already helped the children pour their cereal and clean up after them as they ran out the door. Her husband instead had had a lie in since it was a day off for both of them from the ministry.

The couple was then interrupted by a tapping at the window as Euphemia turned to see their owl Artemis with the post. Fleamont had already stood to collect the three envelopes Artemis held in her mouth before Euphemia could do it herself.

"Ah, this one is from the ministry," Fleamont announced as Euphemia frowned. "It's a summons," he continued which confirmed Euphemia's suspicions.

"It's our day off dear," she sighed as she knew it didn't matter.

"Yes, but there has been another disappearance," he explained as he came over to kiss her forehead before walking out of the room.

Euphemia looked down at the remaining two letters and recognized the Hogwarts seal. She got up and opened the back door which was off of the kitchen.

"James! Adeline! Your marks are in from Hogwarts," their mother exclaimed as the children quickly dismounted from their brooms and rushed towards the house.

"James! Wipe off your boots! You already make enough mess for poor Garrick to clean," Euphemia chastised as she referred to their house-elf.

James obligingly went back to the door and took off his boots without a second thought before re-entering the house. Despite his mischievous nature, James did always obey and respect his parents, much to their liking.

Both of their children were very close with their parents, despite the long hours Euphemia and her husband were used to working at the Auror Office. It had been a difficult sacrifice to make when they had decided to have children, but Euphemia and Fleamont were dedicated to their jobs and in turn spent most of the daytime hours during the work week at the office. It had become much easier when the children started attending Hogwarts, but both parents tried their hardest to show their children just how important they were to them. In turn, both Adeline and James understood the responsibilities of being an Auror and what that meant for their parents. Both were actually quite boastful of their parent's professions as they were inherently proud of what their parents did.

"How did you make out Adeline?" Euphemia asked as her daughter had been the first to open her letter.

"I passed all of my classes! However, I might have done better in History of Magic," she answered as she passed over the letter for Euphemia to read.

"Ah, well Professor Binns actually taught when I was going to school, so I can understand the situation," her mother reasoned.

James then tore his own letter open to reveal similar grades as his sister.

"Well, I guess this calls for celebration that Adeline is able to carry on to third year and James onto your fourth," Euphemia said provokingly.

"There was doubt?" Adeline asked in mock insult.

"Of course not dear," Euphemia reassured. "Why don't we head out and celebrate with a fancy dinner in the city?"

"Will dad be able to come along?" James asked as the children had already guessed their father had been called into work.

It was a common enough occurrence.

"I'm afraid not dear," his mother answered as both of the children's faces fell. "But we can collect Sirius and have him stay the night," she suggested.

The Potter's always took every opportunity to take Sirius out with them or have him stay over. It broke their hearts to see the treatment that boy endured in his own home under his insane, blood supremacist mother. Another, more personal factor was that the Potter's had at some point intended to have more children, but two ended up being the maximum two auror's found possible to handle.

So, from the day James had introduced Sirius Black to their family, Euphemia had grown to love the boy as her own.

That night Euphemia spent the evening at a nice Italian restaurant with her children, which they usually frequented when there was cause for celebration. Sirius had excitedly joined them and brought along an overnight bag in order to stay the night. It was also helpful that since the birth of Adeline, Fleamont had argued that the family should have a muggle car so as to not have to apparate with two small children. The common presence of Sirius made having a car even more practical as it was extremely difficult to side apparate three children.

Fleamont did end up joining the family since the restaurant was close enough to the ministry and Euphemia had sent him an owl with the good news. It ended up being quite the lovely evening as the boys were surprisingly on their best behavior and spent most of it asking Fleamont about details from the odd disappearances that had been happening. It sometimes worried Euphemia of their keen interest in auror affairs, but at the same time she prided herself on her son's aspirations for following in his parents' career paths.

Euphemia also watched her daughter who lit up every time her father spoke, especially due to his gifted ability for being an excellent story-teller. She was sitting in-between Fleamont and James and talked of nothing more than her goal of making the quidditch team this year. In return, James and Sirius both beamed at her as they had both made the team this past year and were helping her to train. Euphemia also thought that playing quidditch in their third year was reason enough for concern, but she was also very proud of her children's efforts which is why she remained silent on the matter.

As they all sat around the table, Euphemia also took time to just enjoy the moment. As cliché as it sounded, even in her own mind, she knew times were changing. These disappearances were nothing to be taken lightly and they had just opened a covert investigation into them. She also knew that her children were getting older by the minute and were growing to be more and more independent. She was fiercely proud of her children, Sirius included, but she wasn't quite prepared for things to change as all three of them seemingly threw themselves towards their futures. Euphemia knew that one day it would have all changed and that made her heart both gleam and ache.


	2. Fourth Year

"Hey Addie, I found your quidditch jersey packed in with mine," James said as he entered his sister's room.

"I've been looking all summer for that!" Adeline exclaimed as she rushed over and grabbed the shirt from her brother's hand.

"James! Adeline! We're going to be late!" their mother called from downstairs.

Adeline threw the jersey into her trunk before grabbing a rogue pair of socks off the floor and closing her trunk shut. The two siblings then set off down the stairs.

"You think after five years we would have gotten this right by now," Euphemia exclaimed as she ushered her children out of the house.

Adeline went to her dad who was already standing in the drive while James stood beside his mother. Moments later, all four Potter's apparated to King's Cross Station. It was already 10:55am by the time the family walked through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten and rushed over towards the scarlet steam engine.

"Make sure to write to us about quidditch tryouts!" Euphemia exclaimed as both parents helped their children with their trunks onto the train.

"We will!" both Adeline and James answered as they bid their parents farewell.

"And for goodness sake, try and stay out of trouble James!" his mother added while James just ran his fingers through his hair and laughed.

"Adeline, watch your brother," Fleamont ordered as she smiled at her father and nodded.

"Hey! I don't need a babysitter! I'm the older child!" James exclaimed.

"Go get a seat," Fleamont responded as he dismissed James' complaining and waved his children to go off into the train.

Adeline and James then continued to walk down the train's corridor as they looked for their friends. It wasn't long before they came across the compartment where the fourth and fifth year Gryffindor's were sitting.

"Addie!" one of the fourth-year girl's cried as Adeline entered the compartment.

"Blythe!" Addie responded with the same amount of excitement.

The two girls had shared a dormitory since their first year and had met during their first welcoming feast. The two girls had fortunately sat beside each other and had mocked James all throughout as Blythe had noticed him unsuccessfully try to dye the hair of the girl beside him. Fortunately, again, Lily Evans had noticed and reamed him out for being an idiot. It also wasn't until the next day that Addie owned up to James being her brother which had caused another round of hysterical laughter, cementing the new-found friendship.

In the last four years though, Blythe and James had become good friends along with the other dorm mates who were also sitting in the train compartment.

"Oi, this trunk is heavy, move along," James ushered as I let go of Blythe and moved in to put my trunk up on the racks.

I then turned around and was met by my other three dorm mates, Fern, Elodie and Zelene who all stood to greet me. The five of us sometimes seemed like an odd group, from all different walks of life, but we had all become incredibly close. Blythe and I were both on the quidditch team after we had both tried out in our second and third years. On our second attempt Blythe had become a beater alongside Sirius while I became keeper. James was the seeker while our friend Max, who hadn't yet joined us, was one of the chaser's along with our quidditch captain Indigo Bloom. Indigo was in her sixth year and had taken over from our previous captain who had recently graduated. This also meant that there was an open chaser position, allowing that we all re-made the team.

Aside from quidditch though, Blythe was athletic by nature and always offered her opinion, even when you weren't necessarily looking for it. She was also very kind and extremely loyal amongst her friends and fellow Gryffindor's. Next was Elodie, who was another personality all together as she loved all things feminine and sophisticated. She also made a lot of her own clothes and had excellent taste; something she continually pointed out that I had none of. Fern was somewhere in between as she was quieter and more reserved than either of them but livened up when she was around her friends. She was also extremely patient and often thought before she spoke; another quality most of us lacked. Zelene finished off the crew with a flare of personality. She was overly zealous in everything she did and became extremely determined if she decided she wanted something, including boys. The rest of us had not yet become very interested in dating which had sadly disappointed Zelene. She herself had started dating this past summer and had started to have a thing for Sirius, as she had continually mentioned in her letters, much like the rest of the girls at Hogwarts. Her interest in boys however had far pre-dated the summer.

Adeline couldn't quite fathom the craze which was the Hogwarts obsession with Sirius and her brother. For obvious reasons, she had no idea about her brother, but Sirius had a lot of fatal flaws which could easily cancel out his innate attractiveness. Yes, he had the glossy hair, the muscular build, the uniquely gray eyes, and always dawned a smile; but he was also self-absorbed, egotistical, and had a propensity for pulling pranks.

So, it wasn't surprising that once they all started to sit down, Zelene made her way to sit beside Sirius while James sat on his other side with Remus by the door. The four of us girls sat on the other side while Peter was forced to sit on the floor, as was usually the case. Adeline often felt bad for the shy friend who had somehow managed to stay friends with the other boys who were quite raucous and almost too self-assured, aside from Remus. Moments later, after they had all settled in, the compartment door opened, and two more boys filed in, Max and Wendall. We had met Max two years ago when Blythe and I had tried out for the team for the first time in our second year. All three of us hadn't made the cut as a lot of seventh years were still on the team at that point. But the following year the three of us had easily swept away the competition and taken the vacant spots left by the graduated members. Wendall on the other hand was Max's best friend, who had met him in first year and shared a dorm together.

"Budge up will yah?" Max asked as they both stowed away their trunks and went to sit down.

We all groaned as both sides shuffled down so Max sat beside Elodie and Wendall sat beside Remus.

"Hey, why couldn't you have done that for me?" Peter whined while James waved him off.

"Well we can't do that now," he answered as Peter pouted.

"So," Max said as to break the awkwardness. "When do you think Indigo will hold quidditch tryouts?"

"By the end of the week for sure," James answered.

"Think you'll all remake the team?" Wendall asked while those of us from the team last year all scoffed.

"There's no way any of us could be replaced," Sirius said confidently.

"But I do wonder who will get the open chaser position," I said.

"I know Donald Bowler from third year was eager to try out," James said while shaking his head disapprovingly.

"That guy can't even fly a broom straight," Sirius replied while bowing his head in disappointment.

"Well, I've heard Riley Bedford is also gunning for it and he's not half bad," I added.

"Isn't he in third year as well?" Blythe asked.

"Yea, but I think he can actually stay on his broom," I added while James sighed.

"Well, let's hope he can do more than that."

Riley Bedford did end up proving his worth as he filled the vacant chaser position along with everyone else reclaiming their old positions. Gryffindor had kept a pretty fit team over the past few years, especially since most players practiced diligently over the summer. Addie and James could often be seen training in their backyard, especially since their parents were home less and less these days. Sirius would also join them as he had spent most of the summer at the Potter's manor anyway. Blythe trained with her brother who had since graduated off the team a few years back while Max physically trained despite not being able to ride a broom during the summer near his London home.

"I think that went really well everyone!" Indigo beamed as we dismounted our brooms after a two-hour practice.

"Hufflepuff won't stand a chance," James added smugly while the others nodded.

"Just don't let that big head of yours get in the way of catching the snitch tomorrow," Blythe commented while I snickered along.

"You just make sure to keep the bludgers away from me and I'll make sure I win the game for us," James countered while Blythe just rolled her eyes.

We then all headed for the change rooms to clean up before dinner.

"So how was practice?" Elodie asked as we came over to join them.

"Hufflepuff won't know what hit them," Max answered confidently.

"Oi, you're almost as bad as James," I said while chuckling.

"No, that would be him," Blythe commented while indicating towards Sirius.

"Hey, Turner, I heard that!" Sirius retorted as we all laughed; Zelene maybe a little too hard.

Since Blythe and Sirius had been beaters together they were always going back and forth like this. They really did get along, but both had big enough personalities to not let the other get away with anything. Zelene's reaction however was a little discouraging.

"Don't tell me you're still on about Sirius?" I asked woefully as I had seen Zelene in action many times before.

With her black, wavy hair and Amazonian stature, Zelene was very beautiful and, at times, made Adeline feel inadequate. Her letters this past summer had also been filled with her romantic ventures with a local boy named Todd before they had turned to focus more on Sirius.

"That's all she's been talking about for the last month, haven't you noticed?" Fern added as we all sighed.

"I never caught the name of whoever Fit and Fearless was," I replied.

Zelene often came up with a code name for the guys she went after, especially since James and Sirius couldn't keep a secret to save their lives. Especially since they were popular, everyone seemed to know their business, and by extension, ours.

I could tell that none of the other girls thought this was a good idea but we all knew how determined and stubborn Zelene could be.

"Just don't make it easy for him," I cautioned since I knew enough about Sirius' love life to be moderately scarred.

James and Addie had always been best friends, especially pre-Hogwarts when all they had were each other in their large manor. So, when James went away to Hogwarts a year before Adeline and befriended Sirius, it came to mean that the two boys often shared far too much with her, including their love lives.

Sirius had become a playboy type by the time he noticed girls. He was also optimistically aware that nearly every girl in Hogwarts had some sort of infatuation with him, which he ate right up. James was hardly any better as he basked in his popularity and hardly ever turned down a girl who would willingly snog him. However, to make it worse, James had been smitten with Lily Evans since their third year, and that was only a tentative guess; Adeline believed it started way before then. But James was continually stone-walled by Lily who refused his constant, outward advances, which led him right back to snogging random girls. It was a nightmarish cycle which Addie had heard about too many times.

XXX

"Why won't he say anything?" a frustrated Zelene huffed as she sat down with us in the common room one night.

"Sirius won't ask you out?" Fern asked without even looking up from her book.

"No! And I've tried everything. The first Hogsmeade trip is only a few days away and I'm afraid he won't ask me in time," Zelene sighed disdainfully.

"You could always ask him," Blythe offered.

"No, that means he wins!"

"I've come to think this has become less about love and more about competition," Elodie surmised as she looked at Zelene with concern.

"This was never about love!" Zelene exclaimed emphatically.

"Then I'm only afraid to ask why you've been going on about Sirius Black for the past couple months," I replied skeptically.

"He just seems the most interesting out of all the Gryffindor boys," Zelene answered.

"There are more houses than just Gryffindor you know," Fern stated while a frustrated Zelene just huffed.

"Yea but Gryffindor's know how to have a good time," Zelene explained while I just rolled my eyes.

"You could go ask his brother," Blythe offered as the rest of us scowled.

"There is no way I will ever go out with a Slytherin, most of all Regulus Black!" Zelene retorted scornfully.

It was true that Regulus was a slightly younger, physical model of Sirius, but their overall personalities and belief systems were complete opposites. Whereas Sirius was fun-loving, charismatic and accepting of others, Regulus was reserved, apathetic and believed in blood supremacy amongst wizards. Sirius hardly ever mentioned his family and ignored his brother outright whenever they were at school. I also knew that this past summer had been especially bad for Sirius at home with his mother and family which is why he had come to practically live with us.

"So, to cut this conversation short, I think I'm going to call it a night," I said after having heard more than enough about Zelene's infatuation with my brother's best friend and no interest in hearing more about Regulus.

"Why won't you just talk to him for me?" Zelene whined as I made my way towards the staircase.

So close.

Zelene had started asking me this over the past week and I had absolutely no interest in becoming involved with the affairs of my friends.

"You know I won't" I answered without even turning around.

I heard Zelene sigh again as I continued to walk towards the stairs.

XXX

Saturday arrived with a very dejected looking Zelene while the rest of us started heading out for Hogsmeade. This was only our second year in being able to go down to the village and I found it exciting not to be the youngest one's going anymore. The five of us girls were accompanied by Max and Wendall along with the Marauders who were not too far behind.

"So, we'll all meet at the Three Broomsticks in an hour?" James asked once we had arrived at the village.

"Sounds good," I confirmed as we all agreed and went our separate ways.

The four fifth year boys headed straight for Zonko's Joke Shop while Blythe and I along with Max and Wendall headed for Honeyduke's. Zelene and Elodie announced they wanted to go to Gladrag's while Fern went on her own to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop for supplies.

"So, do you think Zel will drop this whole thing with Sirius?" I asked Blythe as we separated from the boys in the sweetshop.

"Probably not," Blythe stated plainly. "Why do you care?" she asked with more interest in her voice.

"I'm just tired of her asking me to interfere," I explained while Blythe nodded.

"Is that the only reason?"

"Of course," I answered, surprised by Blythe's suspicion. "Why would there be another reason?"

"I don't know, maybe you like Sirius," she answered again, with her trademark candor.

"How- how could you even think that? I don't like _anyone_ like that!" I replied hastily.

"I know none of us have really started to like anybody, aside from Zel, but I do think that if you were to like someone and go out with them, you and Sirius might actually be pretty good together."

I gaped at Blythe as she continued to look at the sweets. I had never even thought of boys in any other context than friends and hadn't even had any interest. The stories I heard from Sirius and James were enough to put me off all together, so I found it especially odd that Blythe would think Sirius would be an acceptable suitor. Sirius Black was an experienced playboy who seemingly knew every trick in the book and lavished in the attention his popularity brought him. What would he ever do with an inexperienced girl like me who also happened to be his best mate's sister?

"Ly get anything good at Honeydukes?" Sirius asked me as he used his own personal nickname for me.

"They had these new ones called Glacial Snowflakes that I wanted to try," I answered as I handed over the box to show him.

"Oh yea, these are pretty good," he answered as I looked at him in confusion.

"But they didn't have them last year," I explained.

"Oh, sod off James," Sirius whispered at my brother who was sitting beside him before turning back to me.

I couldn't help but notice Sirius was rubbing his shin.

"Right, you're right Ly, I must have been thinking of something I tried in London," he explained while I continued to look at him skeptically.

"Would you like to try one?" Zelene interrupted as she held one of her own up to Sirius.

She was sitting on my other side and completely leaned across me to offer.

"It's alright Zel, I'll just go purchase my own," he answered politely while I saw Zelene's expression fall.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the eleven of us all packed around a table at the Three Broomsticks. We talked a lot about our recent win against Hufflepuff and the anticipation of facing off against Slytherin.

"Practices are probably going to start increasing to three times a week," I said while the others nodded.

"How're you keeping up with the OWL work plus quidditch?" Elodie asked the older boys who just scoffed and shrugged.

"There's nothing more important right now than beating Slytherin next week!" James exclaimed proudly.

"And you wonder why Dumbledore made me prefect," Remus said while shaking his head at his two friends.

Soon after they all meandered back to the school to make it back in time for supper.

That night the group spent it quietly sitting in the common room, or as quietly as the Marauders were capable of.

"So why the self-appointed name Marauders?" Elodie asked while the boys played exploding snap.

"Because all heroes need an awe-inspiring name," James responded confidently.

"Marauders aren't typically heroic, though are they?" Fern asked while Peter laughed boldly, and James gave him a questioning look.

Peter then stopped and bowed his head with an embarrassed look.

"We have an image to maintain and Marauder seems to sustain that quite nicely," Sirius explained simply while I saw Remus smile and shake his head.

"So why weren't we ever invited to the club?" Max asked through his concentration of playing exploding snap with Wendall.

"Because we all met before we knew any of you and by that time the application deadline was closed," Sirius continued unabashedly.

"So why not Addie?" Blythe asked. "You obviously knew her beforehand."

"Because," I said somewhat dramatically before any of them could answer. "I am much smarter than them refuse to give myself a name which paints a target on my back. If I'm going to get into mischief, I'm not going to get caught or arouse suspicion like these idiots."

Remus was really chuckling at this point while I saw Sirius give a surprising praiseful smile. James however remained quiet as I could see his ears turning a slight shade of pink.

"Better be getting to bed," Blythe interrupted as I noticed the late hour. "It'll be an early practice tomorrow and I doubt Indigo will let us leave until dinnertime."

We all then got up and filed to our respective dormitories.

"Why do you think Sirius refused to take my candy?" Zelene asked once we were all safely in the fourth-year dorm.

"Maybe he just didn't want them Zel," Fern offered while Zelene rifled manically around in her trunk for her pyjamas.

"It was just a harmless candy!" Zelene ranted while the rest of us shrugged.

"Zel, I think maybe it's time to face the possibility that Sirius Black is just not into you," Blythe stated while Zelene shook her head.

"That can't be it, there has to be something else at play here," Zelene went on while Blythe turned and gave me a look.

I felt my face flush while I shook my head at the idiocy of it all. I did not like Sirius and he did not like me. Plus, he was an idiot for not liking Zelene, but I could also feel a sense of relief in my stomach that Sirius did indeed seem as if he wasn't interested in Zelene. I threw closed my curtains amid my confusion and laid back in my bed before I could give the situation anymore thought. Instead I filled my mind with quidditch strategies. Tomorrow, I knew, was going to be a harrowing practice as they prepared to beat Slytherin next weekend and I needed to be prepared.


	3. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

"Good luck today!" Alice Fortescue said as Blythe and I passed her on our way to breakfast.

Alice was a year older than us and a fellow Gryffindor along with her boyfriend Frank Longbottom. The two of them were known by pretty much the entire school for being the most genuinely nice and friendly people to anyone who crossed their path. Since Frank was also a year older, he had to put up with being in the same dorm as the Marauders; poor bloke.

"Thanks Alice!" we both said as we continued out of the portrait hole.

"Ready to squash some snakes?" Max asked as we sat down beside him in the Great Hall and reached for a bowl of porridge.

"Born ready," I said while Blythe nodded confidently beside me.

Our practices had gone by extremely well, and Riley was already becoming a prized asset to the team.

"Anything today?" I asked as I noticed Fern reading the Daily Prophet like she did every morning.

"Your parents are investigating some more disappearances of some muggles in Yorkshire," she responded while I frowned at her.

It seemed her parents were always in the middle of an investigation which centered on the looming war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It made Adeline's stomach knot as she feared for her parents' safety more and more these days. Being the face of the Auror department and being responsible for raiding Dark Wizard houses and hideaways did not earn you a forgiving reputation amongst the dark wizarding community.

James and Adeline also found this relationship to filter over into their lives at Hogwarts. It seemed there were many children of Death Eaters and their supporters who attended the school and were destined to follow in their family's footsteps; and unsurprisingly to Addie, they were mostly from Slytherin house. Her father usually told her and James the names of highly suspected Death Eaters since he knew their children went to school with them, much to their mother's hesitance. Their mother was always less willing to pass along information since she thought it would jeopardize their safety, they were still students after all. But so far Adeline knew of Rodulphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Sirius' cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa Black who were following in their family belief of blood-supremacy, and Alecto and Amycus Carrow, the Slytherin team's beaters. These group of seventh years all hung out together as well and were mostly avoided by the other students at Hogwarts. But Addie found them all to be cowards who stood behind a man who was no more important or impressive than a dung beetle. But what really bothered her was how much Sirius was targeted by his relatives who prided themselves on upholding the Black name and accusing Sirius of sullying it.

"Morning all," Sirius exclaimed as he and his dorm mates joined our group for breakfast.

"Anything new with mom and dad?" James asked as he looked towards the paper.

"Just another investigation," I answered while he simply just nodded.

I didn't think James was as nervous as I was about mom and dad, especially since I knew both he and Sirius had plans of becoming Aurors once they graduated in a couple of years; something that also made me nervous.

"Ready to kick some Slytherin arse?" James asked as he changed the subject, showing even more confidence than I felt.

I didn't doubt my quidditch abilities, or any of my teammates, but the Slytherin team were ruthless and hardly ever played clean, especially against us.

"Didn't Amycus almost send you off your broom last year?" Elodie asked nervously while Max scoffed.

"Yes, well I wasn't expecting him to come up from behind and actually beat me over the head with his bat, but now I'm ready for anything," Max said in a waveringly confident tone.

"They beat you over the head?" I heard Riley ask from down the table as his face started to turn stark white.

"Yea, Slytherin are pretty nasty players, so don't let your guard down for a minute," James explained while Riley only nodded.

I could now see him having difficulty swallowing his porridge.

"Don't completely scare our new chaser," I chastised to my brother. "We need him to score goals."

"Yea, but the lad needs to know what he's dealing with," Sirius reasoned.

"I guess you're right."

"Alright team let's head out, shall we?" Indigo said as she approached us from the far end of the table.

We all stood up and followed our captain out of the Great Hall. Most of us walked in silence except for Sirius and James who never seemed to be able to stop laughing whenever they were together. Once we were all in the changeroom it seemed only seconds before we were being called out by the announcer. We walked out in single file as the stands erupted into loud cheering at the sight of us. Most of the school showed their favour for Gryffindor by dawning some sort of red and gold paraphernalia while the Slytherins loyally hoisted their own house colours of green and silver.

Indigo went to meet Sirius' brother Regulus in the middle of the pitch since he was the captain of the Slytherin team. They shook hands before we all mounted our brooms in anticipation of the whistle. When it was blown moments later, everyone took off into the air and diverted to their respective positions. It didn't take long before I was in front of the Gryffindor goalpost where I watched Indigo carrying the quaffle towards the other end of the pitch. Max had just passed it to her as she easily scored the goal. The Slytherin keeper, Vincent Crabbe, was big and boorish, but greatly lacked the necessary techniques and skill to be a good keeper. This meant that Gryffindor easily scored on them. In turn however, Slytherin quickly became frustrated which increased their number of illegal moves.

I was now watching as Emma Vanity approached me with the quaffle. Max and Riley were trying to get it away from her but she had gotten a head start and I knew they wouldn't make it in time. I wasn't worried though as I knew how Vanity played and that she would make a duck at the last minute to try and score in the left hoop. But as I was watching her I noticed a blur of something coming at me from my right which caused me to turn my gaze. I saw two beater bats rocketing towards me without being held by their respective beaters. I ducked out of the way to avoid being taken out just as Vanity threw the ball and scored. Indigo immediately called a time-out.

"That's a foul!" James hollered as he rushed over to where most of the players were now congregated in front of the Gryffindor goalpost.

"You can't toss bats at players, least of all the keeper!" Indigo argued as I saw her usually absent anger roiling to the surface.

"Gryffindor get's a penalty shot," the referee said banally, with little interest in the illegal action having just taken place.

"You alright Ly?" Sirius asked while I repositioned myself on my broom and nodded.

He gave me one more look as if to confirm it for himself before nodding and setting off down the pitch. The game re-started when the whistle was blown and Max took the penalty shot. He easily made the goal which then caused the game to go back into play. Sirius and Blythe were now getting more ruthless with their plays, as if they weren't already before. The Carrow's however were just as brutal and lacked the obedience towards any of the rules. It soon became a minefield as the chasers were continually dodging bludgers and the occasional beaters bat. The chasers were also more forceful as they tried to unseat their opponents off their brooms.

Thankfully, about ten minutes later, I watched James out of the corner of my eye dive towards a glint of gold. Moments later he was holding the snitch triumphantly in his hand, Gryffindor had won.

"You weren't kidding!" Riley said as we all walked towards the changeroom.

I could see a few bruises on his arms as well as a slight limp in his gait; however, this did not seem to dampen his triumphant spirits.

"Yea, Slytherins don't know the meaning of the word civil," James spat as I shot him a look.

As much as I despised most of our Slytherin school mates, James always seemed to outwardly loathe them. It made me uneasy sometimes, especially when he targeted them at random in the corridors.

"Party in the Gryffindor Tower!" Max shouted, successfully changing the topic and converting James' loathing into excitement.

"We'll get the supplies!" Sirius said while I shot him a questioning look.

As close as I was with James and his friends, they weren't really that forthcoming with some of their shared secrets, their capacity to produce sweets and beverages at a moments notice being one of them.

As we walked back to the castle however, we unfortunately crossed paths with Severus Snape.

"Looks like your poor little team couldn't win against us mighty Gryffindor's," James boasted; the two boys being mortal enemies.

"It's pathetic that you think somehow brawn outclasses pure intellect," Snape quipped which provoked James' short fuse.

In response James drew out his wand towards Severus before any of us could react to the situation.

However, someone else with much a quicker reflex approached.

"James Potter put down your wand at once!" Lily Evans demanded as she stormed over.

"Butt out Evans," James said with much less anger in his voice.

"I will not let you attack Severus just for your own entertainment and ego," she spat back at him while I thought I saw James flinch.

"He's insulting me and my team," he explained while Lily remained vigil.

"You can't go around hexing every person who doesn't agree with you," Lily continued before I finally saw James lower his wand.

"Fine," James said as he pocketed his wand and Sirius went to lead him away.

"Let's go Sev," Lily said while I watched Severus shake off her hand.

"Let go of me, I don't need you to protect me!" he shouted unreasonably at her as I saw her face turn from annoyance at James to hurt.

"Sev," she whispered as he shook his head and stormed off.

"That ugly little snake," James said as I saw him reaching for his wand once more and starting off towards Severus.

"What is wrong with you?" Lily shouted at James before she herself ran off in the opposite direction, no doubt holding back the tears which were evident in her voice.

James had stopped in his tracks and I could see a look of indecision and confusion on his face. I knew James could be arrogant at times which always led him to act as he saw fit with little regard for anyone else, let alone the rules. However, it seemed Lily Evans had the skills to somehow penetrate that large ego of his and question his actions. I would have to ask her about that; at a better time of course.

The boys did go and get the supplies as they had promised which incited a celebratory party in the Gryffindor Common Room. However, James was no longer in his regular boastful mood and instead stayed sulking in a chair while he sipped his butter beer.

"He's not taking Lily's comment very well, is he?" Fern asked as we all turned our attention to my sulking brother.

"Serves him right for his abrasive decisions," I scoffed while I turned my attention back to the others.

"You're mad at him?" Blythe asked non-judgementally.

"Yea, it is Snape after all," Max added.

"James can't go around hexing everyone who looks at him wrong," I explained.

"But they're Slytherins. They're Death Eaters!" Max continued.

"They are not. Not yet anyways. And it does not give him the right to do whatever he pleases. He's not an Auror yet!" I exclaimed in an exhausted tone.

The group was always divided on these types of situations. Max was always especially eager to agree with whatever Sirius and James had done since it was supposedly all in name of the war. Elodie and Zelene were also easy to forgive anyone who sent a hex in the way of a Slytherin since they were all considered the enemy. Blythe was always unusually quiet on the manner while Fern would often comment it wasn't our place to be the judge and jury. This left me to always be frustrated that James, and often Sirius, didn't seem to be able to contemplate where their actions would lead them. It wasn't even so much as the hexing being wrong, but the enemies they were surely making along the way. I knew as good as any that James and Sirius would make the Auror team the minute they graduated and then they would have big targets on their backs painted by their own arrogance. What would I ever do if I lost them?

My friends were still looking at me as if I were being unreasonable so I stood up and went over to sit with James. Sirius was trying to convince him into joining the party while Peter nodded along and Remus looked bored. My arrival seemed to offer Remus an excuse to leave since he went over to sit with Fern and Zelene; lucky stiff. Elodie had since gotten up and had started dancing with Wendall for a fast song while Max and Blythe were no doubt talking quidditch somewhere else.

"He's a lost cause," Sirius sighed as I sat in between them.

"What were you thinking?" I asked James in a relatively calm manner.

Or at least calmer than I had been.

"I don't know Addie. That- that Snivellus just makes my blood boil. And did you see the way he talked to Lily…" he stopped short at his own mention of her name.

"She doesn't want a knight in shining armour you know," I said while I already knew the root of James' brooding.

"What does she want then. I would be anything for her," James replied desperately before his face fell into his hands.

I looked over at Sirius who rolled his eyes at my brother's theatrics while I stifled a laugh.

"James, stop trying to be anything. It's not working, and you always end up being a pompous arse," I replied sternly. "I don't love the popular James Potter who always looks like he's stepping off his broom and has to have the last word. I love my brother who has my back no matter what and is always there for a good laugh," I said matter-of-factly while James just looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"Watch it there Ly, you're not exactly an angel yourself," Sirius smirked from my other side. "I've seen you strut around this castle."

"I do not strut," I replied flatly. "But I am the better Potter," I added in an exaggerated tone while I got up to dodge James' reprisal.

I stuck out my tongue before turning around and heading back towards my friends; I could already see the smile returning to James' face. But before I reached the other side I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Sirius had followed me.

"I don't know how you do that Ly," he said in a complimentary fashion.

"He's not that mysterious," I chuckled.

"I've been trying ever since Lily yelled at him to get him to cheer up. You did it in under five minutes."

"Well he is always at his worst when his ego takes a hit," I answered with a laugh.

Sirius just looked at me for a minute.

"Want to dance?" he asked while I was taken aback.

"What?"

"It's a fast song Ly, and your brother has already ditched me for some Ravenclaw who snuck in for the party," Sirius explained while I shook my head.

Sure enough, as I looked over at where James had been sitting only a moment ago, he was no where to be found.

"And what about Lily?" I asked incredulously.

"She still won't date him, so he improvises," Sirius explained.

"That is disturbing," I said while I felt my frustration flaring up again.

"Forget him Ly, come dance with me," he said simply while holding out his hand.

"Oh alright," I answered as I took it and followed him to where Elodie and Wendall were.

The four of us ended up mostly dancing together in a small circle before Max and Zelene joined in. I could also see Blythe, Fern, and Remus standing to the side while they watched us. Before long, Zelene and I went to get them to join, not taking no for an answer. It only took a little persuasion before we were able to convince them. Throughout the evening we all stayed on the makeshift dance floor, celebrating our triumphant win. Everyone approached us at some point to congratulate us, which we didn't let inflate our egos too much. At one point however, we all seemed to pair off as Elodie danced with Wendall, Blythe danced with Max, Fern somehow ended up with Peter who came in out of nowhere, Zelene with Remus and that left me with Sirius. Most of the songs were fast paced which left us goofing around and Sirius twirling me any chance he got. However, when a slow song did eventually come on, the easy atmosphere turned a little awkward.

"Come on Ly, I need the practice," he said with an easy grin before I shrugged and took his hand.

Sirius turned out to be an excellent dancer as he led me gracefully through a Foxtrot.

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" I asked surprisingly, taken aback by his effortlessness.

Sirius scoffed. "All those high society balls the noble families throw so they can marry off their children to their cousins."

I shuddered at the thought because I knew it was true, there weren't that many pure blood families left. But before I could give it too much thought the song changed and Sirius took the opportunity to start twirling me around again. The rest of our friends all seemed to reconvene into our original circle and I could see Zelene moving closer to Sirius who was somehow able to maintain a respectable distance. Our dancing didn't last too much longer after that since half of us were exhausted from our game against Slytherin while the others were just beat by the late hour. So, we all bid each other good night, with James still nowhere to be seen, and made our way upstairs. As soon as we shut the door though we paused to listen to McGonagall ordering everyone to bed. We then shut off our lights and I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.


	4. The Prospect of Dating

It was now mid-October and I had started to see the slight changes the war was bringing to the castle. The group of seventh-year Slytherins, along with a few others, were now outwardly praising the name of Voldemort. It was almost surprising how blatant they were as they traversed around the castle spouting their nonsense about pureblood supremacy. Although James, Sirius and I also fell under the classification of pureblood, we were now considered blood traitors since we rejected the ideas of blood having anything to do with magical ability. So, it wasn't uncommon now for any of my friends or I to be shouted at or insulted if we ever crossed paths with them.

I was walking to Divination one afternoon with Elodie when I seemingly tripped over my own feet only to look up and see Bellatrix Black and Roldulphus Lestrange heading towards us.

"Little Potty hasn't learned how to tie her shoes," Bellatrix taunted as if she were talking to a child.

Elodie looked slightly nervous beside me but I watched as she took out her wand nonetheless and pointed it at the two of them since we both knew Bellatrix had jinxed me.

"Pathetic half-blood thinks she can stand up to me," Bellatrix spat as she regarded Elodie.

Despite watching her flinch, Elodie remained firm as she kept her wand ready. During the interaction I swiftly got up, after having undone the binding jinx, and held my wand at Sirius' cousin.

"You don't scare us with your childish jinxes and superiority complex," I answered coolly as I locked eyes with Bellatrix.

Her smirk turned to irritation as I knew most others never talked back to her and just ran away.

"Let's go Bella," I heard Rodulphus sigh, standing off to the side.

Even though I knew him to be a bully towards the younger students, he was never as direct or boastful as Bellatrix was; she lavished in toying with her prey.

"I say when I've had enough!" she shot back in disgust without taking her eyes off me.

She had her wand held towards my chest while I matched her stance. Elodie still stood beside me with her wand drawn in a similar fashion.

"Better run off little Potty, don't want to get hurt playing with the big kids," Bellatrix continued in her squeaky tone.

Moment later she surprisingly put her wand down and brushed past us as she roughly bumped my shoulder with her own. Rodulphus followed without provocation and fell into step a pace behind her. Once they were around the corner we put our own wands away with hesitation. It wasn't like Bellatrix to walk away without a fight. However, seconds later, we saw Professor Slughorn walk by which explained why Bellatrix had given up so easily.

"And those two are dating?" Elodie whispered reproachfully as we both walked towards our class.

"Well they're both horrible and both rotten to the core, so yea I see it," I answered.

"But she just bosses him around and he follows like a lap dog," Elodie continued.

"Well I don't think either of them deserve anything better," I replied to which Elodie agreed.

We entered Divination a couple minutes later and took our usual seats in the back. Max was already there as we settled in for a tedious lecture. Divination was a seemingly useless branch of magic, but it beat having to take ancient runes. We were the only three out of our group who had decided to take Divination and would spend the class competing for who could come up with the most ridiculous predictions. What was even more ridiculous however was that the professor typically agreed with our predictions and praised us for being skilled. At one point he had even claimed that Max probably had a Seer in his family; this had almost brought us to tears with laughter.

"So, what's going to happen today?" I asked after the professor had given his lecture and we were set to read each other's palms.

"Why don't we see who you're going to date Addie?" Elodie offered innocently while I returned her suggestion with a glare.

"Oo, I bet it's going to be Amycus Carrow. I bet him throwing that bat at your head was his declaration of love," Max laughed while I hit him on the shoulder.

"Yea, well what about you and Narcissa Black?" I countered. "I'm sure you could get her to smile with all your hilarious jokes."

Max stopped laughing and looked at me in disgust.

"That gargoyle wouldn't know how to have a good time if she read it in a book."

Elodie piped up. "What about you and Sirius, Addie?"

"Why would you even suggest that?" I asked disbelievingly.

I saw Max's look of disgust turn to one of glee. It obviously pleased him that Elodie had taken me by surprise. However, this was only because we never included our friends in any of our predictions.

"Sirius is worse that Amycus?" she countered.

"Well, no, of course not. But he's my brother's best mate."

"And..." Elodie said as if she expected me to come up with a better reason.

"There is no 'and'. You two just suck at match-maker and I am not dating any children of Death Eaters or my friends," I answered as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Come on Addie, we have to look at your palms," Max said with a smirk.

I sighed before unfolding my arms and showing them each a hand.

"Yup," Max said confidently after a few minutes of staring intently at my hand.

"It's official," Elodie added with a mischievous grin. "You are going to fall desperately in love with Sirius Black and have his children."

Both were howling with laughter as they wrote their supposed findings down. I quickly refolded my arms and glared menacingly at both of them for the rest of class.

"You both are the absolute worst."

XXX

Unfortunately for me, Max and Elodie were still talking about my supposed impending nuptials with Sirius as we sat down for dinner.

"What are you two laughing about that has Addie so pissed?" Blythe asked as the rest of the fourth years sat down and joined us.

"We read her palms today and decided that she is to be married to Sirius by the time she turns nineteen," Elodie answered which started another round of incessant laughter.

"That can't be true!" Zelene exclaimed since she was the only one who apparently did not find this highly amusing besides me.

"Of course, it's not true!" I huffed before grumpily turning to look at my plate.

"What's not true?" James asked as he sat down beside me, followed by the other three boys.

"Nothing," I said through gritted teeth while I turned to give death glares to my friends.

We were not expanding to include Sirius in this nonsensical premonition.

"They're just giving Addie a hard time for failing a Divination quiz," Zelene stepped in.

I wasn't too thrilled about her choice in subject change, but it worked nonetheless.

However, all throughout dinner I couldn't help but look at Sirius as if contemplating him as anything other than James' best friend. I had known Sirius for five years and figured at this point I knew him fairly well. Each summer he had come to stay with us more and more at the manor which had brought some much needed reprieve to the quiet and emptiness it usually bore with the absence of our parents. But even though Sirius came to hang out with James, the two boys always included me in their games and pranks. It was almost like the three of us had grown up together. I also knew him well enough to notice that when we were at school Sirius always acted a little different. He was more boastful and was always getting into trouble with James, whereas at home both of them were more reserved around our parents; even if the word reserved was probably too liberal. I even knew the more intimate things, such as his feelings towards his family and his dream to join the Auror Department with James once they graduated.

But then there were the girls. It was no secret to anyone at Hogwarts that both Sirius and James sought out the attention of the girls who regarded them as prize boyfriend material. They were both handsome, popular, and loved to lavish their attention on any girl they were with. The only problem was their attention never seemed to last very long as neither one of them was ever with the same girl for more than a month, and those were the longer relationships.

Addie on the other hand had never considered anyone to be her boyfriend, least of all the boy who played such a huge part in her life. It seemed odd that this subject seemed to be coming up more and more and it always led back to Sirius.

Plus, there was the whole Zelene situation, who had been harbouring her own crush for several months now. Wasn't it against some sort of friendship ethics code not to date anyone who your friend fancies?

XXX

That night we all sat in the common room as it was a rare night none of us had any impending homework due the next day.

"Where are they off to?" Fern asked as she looked up and watched the fifth-year boys running down the staircase only to leave the common room through the portrait hole.

"It's a bit late to be leaving isn't it?" Elodie asked while I shrugged.

"It's not like they're much for the rules, and I think Remus is in the hospital wing again," I answered.

It was common knowledge by now that Remus spent at least once a month in the hospital wing for his feeble health. I felt bad for the guy who somehow seemed to have enough energy to keep up with Sirius and James on his good days but ended up in the hospital wing on the bad. Maybe Sirius and James should take it easy if Remus was going to keep up with them.

"That's almost every night this week they've went out though, even when Remus wasn't in the hospital," Fern added.

I shrugged again. I knew James and the others were probably up to something, but I always liked to know very little about their post-curfew activities, so I could play innocent in front of mum and dad.

"I think I'm going to head to the kitchens, anyone want to come along?" I asked as I stood from the comfy armchair I had been sitting in.

Everyone shook their head except for Zelene who decided to come along. Fern gave us a pointed look since she had just commented on the late hour, but we decided to go anyways.

We walked in an amicable silence as we went down the stairs towards the basement until Zelene decided to break it.

"So, what's this I hear about you and Sirius getting hitched?" Zelene asked slyly once we had almost made it to the portrait of fruit.

"Bloody hell, Max and Elodie just can't keep their traps shut. Sirius almost heard at dinner," I replied in annoyance. "They came up with a stupid fortune in Divination today, it's completely bogus," I explained, knowing how Zelene felt about Sirius.

"Well, I actually wanted to say that I think you and Sirius would work well together," Zelene said plainly.

"You can't be serious," I exclaimed in shock. "There is no way I am ever going out with him! He's my friend…. and you're my friend… it's never going to happen," I stuttered until Zelene put her hand up to cut me off.

"Addie, I don't really like Sirius in a way to fight over him with you. After watching you two dance the other day after the match, you compliment each other well," she continued.

"But I don't want to date him, or anyone for that matter," I tried to explain since no one seemed to be getting this important detail.

Why wasn't this getting through to her, or any of my other friends?

"Addie, you're going to start to notice boys sooner than you think and when you do you're going to be able to have whoever you want," she said confidently which made my face go scarlet.

"You can already have anyone you want Zel," I replied, trying to take the attention off me.

"True," she said smugly. "But I just wanted to help you realize that you are one of the most popular girls in school, you're beautiful, talented, and always work to get what you want. When you discover that you want Sirius, or anyone else, they won't stand a chance," Zelene finished.

I was speechless for one of the few times in my life. Zelene had been my friend since our first year and I had always found her to be the most obvious kind of beautiful. She was also extremely smart, confident and driven; she could get anything or anyone she wanted. Why was she telling me this, especially since I had no interest in dating anyone, least of all Sirius.

"So, who does this mean you're going after now?" I asked, wanting to try again to take the attention off my non-existent dating life.

"Well, I would go after your brother, but my last name isn't Evans," she said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I did not want to hear her plans on how to ensnare my brother.

"So, I don't know. No one seems to be challenging enough. They're all the same Addie. They think I'm this beautiful girl they can woo after flexing their muscles or snogging a few times. In the end it's just disappointing," she explained.

I was surprised to hear this since I had thought Zelene enjoyed dating, but it seemed she was just looking for someone who could be her match.

"Well, you are exclusive to just dating Gryffindors and we are known for our big egos and smaller brains," I teased as I repeated the Gryffindor stereotype.

Zelene laughed and shook her head.

She didn't add anything else since we had arrived at the kitchens by this point and headed inside for our midnight snack. This new aspect of growing up seemed to be more confusing than I had initially thought; by comparison, the war seemed to be more straight forward. I would rather face down Bellatrix in the hallway any day than try and figure out the complexity of dating. By what Zelene was saying, it seemed fairly difficult with not a lot of satisfactory results. James was also another example since he had been chasing Lily for years and she still looked at him as if he were a toad. It seemed completely pointless to date and there were plenty of other things that were more important to focus on such as quidditch, friends, passing classes, and preparing for the war. So the sooner she got her friends to focus on something other than her dating, the faster she could forget about all of this.


	5. Distractions

A welcomed distraction came a week later when we walked into Defense Against The Dark Arts. This year we had been lucky enough to get a fairly-qualified professor who had even been an Auror for the French Ministry at one point, although Professor Agent had already announced she would be leaving at the end of the year for another position. I had really been hoping this one would keep the job for more than a year, but that never seemed to be the case.

James and the other fifth years had already filled us in on the lecture since apparently everyone above second year was to experience the same one. We were to face a boggart. Remus had been especially excited since he always took particular interest in dark creatures. So, we had spent the better part of the week hearing about it, but I still didn't feel anymore prepared to face my biggest fear.

This caused me to feel frustrated as we walked into class. I had been obsessing over it all week and still didn't have a clue what would appear in front of me. Every one of my friends had been speculating what they figured the boggart would transform into when they faced it and how they would react. Max had figured it would have something to do with losing at quidditch, while Fern was confident she would be faced with a snake. Elodie was unsure how the boggart would represent drowning, but she had been afraid of that ever since her mother told her she would if she ever got too close to the pond. Blythe on the other hand had been unsure of what hers would be but was confident she could face it no problem. This had been immediately refuted by Sirius however who wouldn't believe Blythe could walk away unscathed. This had left Wendall to surmise that his would be a swarm of bats, apparently that was how you got bitten from a vampire, and Zelene who believed hers would be a clown. This left me, and I had absolutely no idea what I would be facing, and that's what scared me. After hearing the experience from James and the others, it had seemed rather exposing and I couldn't stand the thought of that kind of vulnerability. James had faced a rageful Lily Evans, apparently, the red head had appeared before him with bright red cheeks and her arms folded across her chest. Sirius and Peter had found this hilarious while apparently the real Lily surprisingly hadn't said a word about it. Peter's had reportedly been the group of seventh year Slytherins who constantly pick on him. I didn't blame the poor guy, he always seemed more vulnerable than any of us and often cowered away instead of standing up for himself. I still didn't understand how he had stayed friends with James for so long, James often didn't have the patience for that sort of thing.

The one I had really felt for though was Sirius since his had been a mannequin adorned with a Slytherin uniform; the thought of following in his family's footsteps was the thing that he feared most.

The boys had been unwilling to talk about Remus' boggart, but unfortunately for him the entire school was talking about it. Why was the fifth-year boy who hung out with the infamous James Potter and Sirius Black afraid of the full moon? A lot of the students, including our friends, had figured he was afraid of being bitten by a werewolf or something. When we had talked about it earlier this week I had watched Remus look nervous and the other boys acted vague on the subject. I had almost asked why the boggart hadn't turned into a werewolf itself, but I could have sworn James could read my mind when he looked me in the eyes and shook his head. I hadn't brought up the subject since, but it still made me curious. Compared to Sirius, whom I knew his entire life-story, I knew very little about Remus. I knew his parents mostly kept to themselves and Remus seemed to get his poor constitution from his muggle mother who was often sick herself. I also knew that his father worked for the ministry in the justice department and had notoriously gone against Fenrir Greyback who was now a known Death Eater. Other than that Remus and the others were pretty mum on the subject.

I felt my stomach knot as I sat in my chair and pretended to listen to Professor Agent talk about boggarts. I could tell my friends were all finding the lesson to be quite fascinating, especially since Defense was typically about theoretical aspects instead of real life applications. But then again it was difficult to have practical lessons on the Unforgivable curses and dark magic.

"Alright class, it's time for each of you to face the boggart," Professor Agent announced mid-way through the lecture which brought my attention back to focus.

There was an excited buzz across the students as they waited in nervous anticipation.

"I will call each of you up once the boggart has been properly dealt with by the previous student. Remember the counter-curse against the boggart to accurately dispose of it. _Riddikulus,"_ Professor Agent explained.

My mind became a flood of non-sensical anxiety, with the only relief that Potter was half way though the alphabet; thank Merlin Professor Agent was formal.

"Alderton," Professor Agent said as Arkie stood up, trying to appear more confident than his face showed.

I watched as the first few students faced their most prominent fears. Most froze at the sight of whatever the boggart had turned into before being prompted by Professor Agent to change its appearance into something comical. Then the whole class would erupt into laughter.

"Carruthers," Professor Agent called out.

I looked over to Elodie and watched her get up with the same expression she had bore when we had faced Bellatrix in the hallway. But, like she did then, she took her wand from her robe pocket and unwaveringly approached the box where the boggart was waiting. As timid as Elodie could be, she never let fear impede her from doing or accomplishing anything.

I watched as the boggart exited from the box, appearing as a glass tank filled with water. I could also see the reflection of her inside with a panicked expression as the water rushed to fill up the tank. Elodie remained firm though with her raised wand and produced the counter charm before the professor even said anything. Moments later the once looming tank was nothing more than a small Rubik's cube.

"Alright, Fenwick, you're next," the professor announced as Elodie returned to her seat in the same controlled demeanor she had left with.

"How was it?" I whispered as she sat next to me.

"The most frightening thing I've ever experienced, duh," she said as she rolled her eyes.

Obviously, boggarts showed you your worst fear, but that's not really what I had been asking.

"But you looked so calm," I replied, ignoring her comment.

"It was really like the air was being sucked from my lungs," she answered before I turned back to watch Zelene.

She was currently facing the creepiest clown I had ever seen. Instead of a smile painted across its face it had a maniacal expression, topped with beady black eyes. Moments later the clown was wearing a dress that Elodie was currently working on and kept in our dormitory. It's frizzy red hair was also replaced with flowers and its painted face was now uniform pink. There was nothing scary about it anymore; the whole class burst into laughter.

A few more students went next. I hadn't been able to ask Zelene about her experience since she was sitting on the other side of Elodie who looked miffed that the dress she had been working on ended up on Zelene's clown.

Next to go in our friend group was Wendall, which meant I was next.

"Mr. Porter, we haven't gotten all day," Professor Agent said tersely as she stared at Wendall who still hadn't left his seat.

Obligingly, Max pulled the scruff of Wendall's robes and shoved him out of his seat towards the cryptic box. Out of all of us Wendall had been the surest of what his fear would be and did not have any want for facing it.

I watched as he inched closer to the box under the expectant gaze of the professor. Once he was close enough the box unlatched, and a swarm of bats was unearthed and dive bombing at Wendall's head. It took several attempts for Wendall to even stand up straight to be able to perform the charm which eventually rendered the bats into paper maché. Wendall was about the same shade as a ghost by the time he returned to his seat.

Max gave him a congratulatory slap on his back which only caused him to trip over his desk and fall into his chair. He remained expressionless.

This was exactly the type of reaction I had been worried about. I was the daughter of Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, two of the top-ranking auror's in magical Britain. I was the sister of the most popular boy in school whose only fear is the rejection of the girl he has been pining over for years and that I think has mostly to do with his ego; he also apparently has gotten over his childish fear of big dogs. But the important thing here is that Potter's do not feel fear and they are not cowards. Voldemort and his stupid cronies are the ones afraid of the world and that's why they feel the need to control it. I can't be afraid of anything if I'm going to be the one to stop and defeat them alongside my friends and family.

"Potter, you're up," Professor Agent called.

I walked up to the front of the class while I stared fixatedly on the looming trunk. How did this creature know me more than I knew myself? I had been wracking my brain this entire week and I still had no idea what I was afraid of, but this creature was supposed to look into my eyes and know instantly.

I braced myself as I heard the lock unlatch. I held my breath as I waited for that split second before my boggart appeared. James stepped out of the trunk with that stupid expression he wore when he was going after Severus Snape.

I heard some of the students behind me laugh already which made the image of James waver a bit. But he still walked towards me with that expression on his face as I stared in panic. I realized that James was wearing his normal clothing and still had his wand outstretched in front of him; we weren't allowed to use magic outside of school yet. As vague as the situations seemed to be, I knew exactly what he was doing. He was being an arrogant git who wasn't using his head; he was going to get himself hurt. No, he was going to get himself killed.

I stepped closer to my brother and tried to get him to look me in the eye, but he continued to look as if he were following something in the distance and going after it.

"James," I said, trying to get his attention.

He remained focused.

"James!" I said more urgently.

I saw him raise his wand as if he had caught up to whatever it was he had been following. He had that same determined look in his eye which hadn't yet fallen from his face. He stood there, even more confidently than he had before.

"Miss Potter," I heard from behind me but ignored it.

It was like this James and I were in our own world, but he wouldn't even look at me.

Then James disappeared and was replaced with a green flash.

"Miss Potter!" I heard more urgently but continued to ignore it.

James was now lying at my feet in a motionless heap. His arrogance had killed him.

I sank to my knees without a sound and stared at James. I knew this would happen, he never thought anything through.

I felt a hand on my shoulder as it broke my trance. I looked up to see Blythe standing beside me and offering her hand to help me up. I turned back to the floor, but James was gone. Professor Agent had cast the charm and returned the boggart to the trunk. I took Blythe's hand and stood up, my fear already becoming replaced with anger. How could this creature defeat me so easily?

Blythe led me back to our seats while I remained in seething silence. I had never been so disappointed in myself before, not even when I had failed to make the quidditch team in second year.

Once class restarted I could barely focus on any of the others' boggarts. I only heard Professor Agent methodically call out each student as they stood up to face the creature.

"Selkirk."

Max went and faced his broken broom, he didn't have to see his dead brother.

"Taylor."

Fern went and faced a grotesquely large snake.

"Turner."

Blythe ended the group. I tried to pay attention as Blythe herself hadn't known what the boggart would show.

I heard myself gasp, along with the rest of the class, as Voldemort himself appeared before Blythe. I couldn't help but stare intently and noticed several students with their mouths gaping open or even looking away in horror. Blythe however remained focused and transformed Voldemort into a plush dummy without missing a beat. The whole class erupted into laughter and applause.

XXX

The rumour that Adeline Potter was afraid of her brother had circulated by the time we all sat down for dinner.

"Boo!" James shouted from behind me before sitting down. "I didn't know I was that terrifying."

I noticed some of the others laughing.

"Shut up James," I retorted, having no patience for his teasing.

I hadn't yet talked about the boggart to anyone since I had went up to our dorm to lie down in between class and dinner. In that time, it had only taken an hour for the entire school to gossip about me and make the situation worse. But I couldn't stop thinking about that stupid look on his face, the one that always made me nervous. It had only went away the last time when Lily had shouted at him and forced him to consider not going after Snape. I was almost willing to go talk to her and ask her how she had done that.

"Seriously Addie, what was up with your boggart. I don't think I'm that much of an arse that you're scared of me," James continued a little more seriously, but I could still see the joking smile behind his eyes which tipped me off.

"I don't even know how I could ever be this scared for an enormous prat like you!" I shouted as I stood up abruptly and headed out of the Great Hall.

It was all too much. I hadn't realized how much this war was getting to me and I wasn't even a part of it yet. I didn't know what loss felt like or even what it was like to be in real danger. Our parents had made sure to give us a sheltered childhood where they kept the darkness at bay and away from us. Dad had always regaled us with exciting stories from work, but he always left out the real-life aspects like loss and death. Now I felt like this had only led James down an idiotic war path which would inevitably cost him his life.

I kept walking until I arrived at the quidditch pitch. I grabbed my broom from the storage shed and immediately shot off into the air. I flew as high as I could go until the castle was outlined by it's torches which looked like flickering fireflies. The sun was still shining but was now touching the horizon line and threatening to descend and leave me in darkness.

I had never felt this overwhelmed before and didn't have the first clue on how to talk about it with anyone. Everyone's fears had been more about survival than emotional. Snakes, drowning, being bitten by a vampire, none of it had anything to do with losing their family. Plus, I was even more upset that I hadn't been able to even think about using the charm against it. I could face down Bellatrix Lestrange and her cronies any day of the week, I could ride on my broom and have bats thrown at my head with the intent to unseat me, but I couldn't face a boggart. What would I be like standing up against Voldemort. He had never scared me before, but now I wasn't so confident in myself.

"Ly. Hey, Ly!" I heard a voice calling me as it came closer.

I looked down to see Sirius soring towards me on his own broom.

"Please tell me James isn't with you," I answered as I tried to look around him.

"No, I convinced him I would bring you down," he replied.

"What are you doing here Sirius?" I asked bluntly.

"I'm going to bring you down," he repeated plainly, unfazed by my hostility.

"I don't want to go back down," I replied stubbornly.

"You know, you could always talk to a friend about what's going on instead of shutting everyone out and yelling at James," he said with judgement absent from his voice.

I sighed.

"How am I supposed to talk to anyone? They all fear things that are intertwined in their DNA. It's survivalist to not want to be bitten by a deadly snake or vampire. James was dead. He had that stupid look on his face one moment and the next he was dead at my feet and there was nothing I could do about it since James doesn't listen to anyone," I rambled as Sirius only stared at me.

"Ly, James does listen to you," he said with sincerity in his voice.

"Not when it comes to chasing Snape. What happens when Snivellus becomes a Death Eater, huh? Then what?" I asked, working myself up. "How is anyone supposed to know what to say to this. Or to James to stop him from getting himself killed by his own arrogance?"

"I think I am the answer to both of those questions," Sirius answered softly.

"Your ego isn't helping this situation! I am already worried enough James' is going to get himself killed," I replied angrily before Sirius put his hand up in a surrendering motion.

"Ly, that's not what I'm trying to do here. First, did you think about the fact that my fear is about my family and not some primal instinct. My boggart was a bloody robe for Merlin's sake."

I stopped and thought about it. I had known about this, but I never really considered Sirius to be the one to work all of this out with.

"And second, I am always going to be at James' side so I promise I will be the one to save James from himself," he answered soberly.

"I'm not asking you to save his life or anything. Or to sacrifice yourself!" I said worriedly.

"You don't have to Ly, James is like my brother and I would cease to exist if he were to die," Sirius said solemnly.

We stared at each other for a moment.

"I'm not brave. I don't even know if I belong in Gryffindor anymore," I confided and broke our eye contact.

"Ly, how can you even say that, you're the bravest person I know," Sirius said while I looked at him incredulously.

"You are the only one I know who will even say Voldemort without flinching, you always stand up to my dear cousins when they corner you in the corridor, you walked right into the Forbidden Forest in your first year when James dared you to without a second thought, when you were younger you got right back on your broom when you fell from ten feet up, and you always stand up for your friends when they need you," he listed.

"None of those things are very hard to do," I said impishly.

"Ly, you're joking! James couldn't even walk into the forest until his third year, no seven-year-old would remount their broom after falling from that high, most of the school doesn't stand up to the Slytherins, and most of Britain are too afraid to say Voldemort. You are so amazing and it's infuriating that you don't see that. You are not afraid of a boggart you are afraid of losing your best friend who is also your brother. You see his flaws and know how vulnerable they make him when none of us are even brave enough to face that fact. Plus, I don't even know how you would make James' dead body comical for the counter charm," he stopped as he looked at me intensely.

"Put him in a dress? Maybe blue to bring out his eyes?" I replied simply.

We paused again before bursting into laughter.

"I love you," Sirius said with a big grin on his face before we both stopped abruptly.

I could see his uneasiness and a blush starting to form.

"I love you too," I replied as I felt heat form over my own face.

"Better get back before James breaks his promise and comes up here himself," Sirius said while I nodded.

We flew back to the ground in silence. I could see James pacing in the center of the pitch as we neared while Peter and Remus sat off to the side. James spotted us when he turned, and the others stood to come over.

"I am so sorry Addie, I wasn't even thinking. I didn't realize I was dead at your feet! I'm such an arse," James rambled as I saw how anxious he actually was.

In response I just went up to him and pulled him into an embrace to ease his nerves. We stayed there for several moments as I felt the anxiety ease out of his muscles. It was comforting to know that James, on some level, understood my own fears and maybe even felt them too. I just wasn't as much of an idiot as he was and thought about things before I decided to act.

"Are we good?" James asked, still with anxiety etched into his voice.

"We're good," I smiled before going to put my broom away.

Sirius followed me to do the same before following the others and heading back up to the castle. By this point the sun had set and the moon was now brightening the night sky.

"Looks like a full moon," I said casually while Sirius looked up at it a little too quickly.

"No, not quite," he said before I took another look and saw there was a sliver missing.

"I didn't realize you were so great at Astronomy," I teased.

"I'm not," he said simply before we fell into another silence and caught up with the others.

We were ascending the stairs to the common room when I stopped and took Sirius' hand.

"I just wanted to thank-you. You were right you know, I should have come to you," I said, feeling embarrassed with myself.

"I'm just glad you did end up talking to me," he said softly, still holding onto my hand.

"Well, you know, if you ever need to talk about yours, I'm here," I said, feeling the heat rise in my face again.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied before I took my hand back and made my way for the portrait hole.

I looked back one more time before entering as Sirius stood rooted in place.

"Good-night," I said.

He turned around and greeted me with a smile.

"Good-night Ly."


	6. The Start of Winter

I could feel the sun kissing my face as I stretched out in my bed. My eyes remained closed as I relished in the fact that today was a Saturday and I could finally have a lie in. Classes had been piling on the work as we approached the Christmas break and I was ready for it to be over.

I was abruptly pulled out of my peaceful rest however when a pillow smacked across my face.

"Oi!" I yelled as I sat up and surveyed the room.

Blythe was already dressed in an oversized jumper and jeans, excitement stretched across her face and a pillow in her hand.

Blythe and Fern were always the early risers, which is why I wasn't surprised to see Fern's bed empty and already made. She was probably already in the lavatory getting ready.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" I asked as I stared down my best friend.

She flicked her dark blonde hair over her shoulder as she met my stare with a challenging look. Her hazel eyes always brought out the natural lowlights in her hair which gave her an effortless beauty. Blythe was never concerned with her looks, but Addie had never believed she needed to be.

"It snowed last night!" she replied with an excited smile.

She then carried on to smacking Elodie with her pillow. The curlers which Elodie always slept with became disarrayed as she quickly sat up and covered her head.

"Blythe!" she shouted angrily as she whipped out of bed and went to check herself in the mirror.

Elodie had blonder hair than Blythe and always took meticulous care of it. I had always thought it exhausting to put that much constant effort into one's physical appearance. Besides making clothes, Elodie also made jewelry which she always wore; necklace, earrings and bracelets everyday. She also took about thirty minutes every morning to put on make-up and another thirty to style her hair. I had asked her once why she felt the need to put in so much effort but Elodie had only replied by trying to convince me to do the same. In response, I had quickly run out of the dorm before she could try and curl my hair.

But I had since wondered about it numerous times and speculated if it had anything to do with her older sisters. She had three other sisters who had since graduated Hogwarts and apparently, they had had a reputation for popularity. I knew that each of the sisters had also become engaged or married their boyfriends from school and were all set to settle down. I didn't know where this left Elodie, the youngest out of them all.

Elodie was now storming into the lavatory to presumably fix the damage that Blythe had caused with her pillow.

"Don't even think about it Turner," Zelene scathed as she slowly sat up and gave Blythe a pointed look.

The commotion Blythe had caused had presumably woke her up before her mouth could become full of pillow feathers. I was still trying to fish them all out of mine.

Despite still being mildly annoyed with Blythe, I couldn't help but share her excitement. It was only a week away from the break and this was the first snow fall they had had. It also happened to be on a weekend.

With this new-found energy I threw myself out of bed and started rooting around in my trunk for my favourite jumper and snow pants. I quickly changed while the others were busy in the washroom and decided to wait downstairs since I knew Blythe wouldn't let them be too long. I had my coat, mittens and hat ready in my hands as I made my way to sit in the common room. A little surprisingly James, Sirius and the others were already awake and making their way through the common room.

"I'm surprised to see you all up before noon," I said to them all as I noticed how exhausted they all looked.

"Are you just getting in?" I asked in an astounded voice.

James was never one for the rules, but this seemed a little extreme for him to have been up and out all night.

"Never mind Addie," James grumbled as he walked past her and headed for his dorm.

Addie knew not to take anything personally James said when he was tired. He often exhibited the personality of a troll when he was.

"Going somewhere?" Sirius asked as he dawned a smile unlike the rest of his friends.

Remus and Peter were following suit behind James as they dragged their feet up the stairs.

"Yea, we're going out in the snow," I answered cheerfully, already excited for the venture.

"That sounds fun!" Sirius exclaimed. "Maybe I should join you."

"Shouldn't you go to bed?" I asked skeptically.

"I can sleep when I'm dead," he replied with a shrug.

I couldn't help but laugh as he jogged up the stairs to change. Even more surprisingly he was down and dressed before the others were ready.

"I'm afraid to ask what it is you guys have been up to," I said as Sirius and I sat down to wait for the others.

"I thought you didn't ask the questions you didn't want the answers to, so you could maintain your innocence," he said tauntingly.

"True, but I have noticed you guys go out nearly every night now," I continued.

Sirius just shrugged, and I quickly let the topic drop. I did want to maintain my innocence, especially since I knew my parents would ask me about James in only a couple of days.

Minutes later the rest of my dormmates were carrying themselves down the stairs, all dressed in their snowsuits.

"What about Wendall and Max?" Elodie asked as we all headed out the portrait hole.

"They'll know where we are," Blythe answered as we all followed her out.

We stopped by the kitchens first to pick up an assortment of muffins and other pastries to bring along on our excursion.

"It's so much easier that we can drop by the kitchens whenever we please," Elodie said as we carried our food out in our arms.

"Well, you can thank James and I for that," Sirius said pompously.

"Excuse me! I'm the one who showed James!" I retorted.

Sirius scoffed. "And who is going to believe you over me?"

"All of us," the others all answered in unison.

Sirius sulked as he ate his muffin and we all wandered outside.

Blythe was the first one to throw a snow ball which ignited a frenzy that immediately turned Sirius' brooding into sheer determination.

We all partnered off as we segregated into opposite ends of the grounds.

I saw Fern and Wendall working together to build a protective fort. I guess the boys hadn't been too far behind us.

Blythe was off with Max and I could already see their impressive pile of snow balls being built. This left Elodie and Zelene who were taking refuge behind a tree as they built their own pile.

"What's the play Ly?" Sirius asked as he had already made an impressive number of snowballs for the two of us.

I was busy surveying the field. Elodie and Zelene lacked the athletic edge and target precision but I knew how competitive the two of them could get, they wouldn't be an easy elimination. Fern and Wendall would play it safe and probably offer refuge and the promise of protection to whichever team got to them first; their fort was already half constructed and had the two of them already out of view. This left Blythe and Max who would be deadly.

I quickly led Sirius over towards the Black Lake since that would give us the advantage of not being snuck up on. It also provided a clear vantage point of the others.

We ended up leaving Wendall and Fern alone since they had created quite an elaborate shelter which seemed impenetrable without being bombarded by the others in the time it took for you to figure out how to get in. Elodie and Zelene were easy enough targets, but their tactic was volume instead of accuracy. This meant that every time Sirius and I approached, we were met with a tirade of snowballs coming from seemingly every direction. Even thought their target rate was only about 30%, it was still unpleasant to try and ambush them.

Our main targets ended up being Blythe and Max since it felt like being on the quidditch pitch. Like quidditch, Blythe and Max never stayed in one place for very long and always tried to attack from behind. Despite Max's sheer size they were pretty successful at these maneuvers. We tried to make it more difficult for them by staying near the lake, but we didn't always win.

"Where's Blythe at?" Sirius asked as he restocked our ammunition.

I surveyed the grounds and frowned.

"They were just over in the west end," I pointed at the now vacant spot.

Sirius frowned but continued to make fill our stock pile. I kept surveying the grounds and became worried with each passing moment. They were planning something.

Out of no where it seemed as if Sirius and I were caught up in a blizzard. It was even more bizarre to observe that we were the only ones being covered since there was no snow falling ten feet in front of us. This caused me to look up and see Blythe and Max hanging out in a tree and dropping snow onto us. I was even more taken aback however when Sirius dove and landed himself on me for protection. We waited out the hail storm with Sirius inches from my face as we stared awkwardly into each other's eyes. I could feel his hot breath on my face which seemed to cause heat to rise to my cheeks. I was very much at a loss for words.

"Oi, what are you doing to my sister Black?" James asked as I heard the surprising ring of my brother's voice.

"I thought you were sleeping Jamie," Sirius quipped without missing a beat as he got up from on top of me.

The snow attack had since ended.

"Well you lot were being too loud, we could hear you from the tower," James continued with a scowl. "And that doesn't answer my question Black."

"I was sacrificing myself for Ly," he said simply.

James mulled over the answer for a moment before replying.

"Oh, okay then. That's acceptable."

I shot James a look which told him he wasn't my keeper, but he shrugged and went to chase after Peter who was running towards the sanctuary of Fern and Wendall's fort. James however caught up and tackled him to the ground, stuffing his face full of snow. I shook my head, feeling sorry for the bloke before I noticed Max and Blythe approaching with another attack. Sirius and I resumed into action as we collected our stash of snowballs and pelted them at everyone who approached. This lasted long into the evening as we all refused to accept defeat. Our stomachs won over however when we all called a truce to head up to the Great Hall when the sun had started to set.

"I'm starved," I called out as we all sat down for dinner.

My stomach grumbled at the sight of roast beef with all the fixings.

Sirius chuckled from beside me as he took his own seat. I elbowed him in the ribs to get him to stop.

"Is that any way to treat your saviour?" he asked with exaggerated bravado.

I just rolled my eyes and turned to talk to Blythe who was sitting on my other side.

"So, who won the fight?" I asked challengingly.

"Us of course," she replied simply.

"Fat chance of that," James piped in.

Since James, Peter and Remus had joined in, the game had gotten even more intense. Peter had hidden with Fern and Wendall, but Remus had teamed up with James who was probably the most competitive out of all of us. James was also surprisingly good at strategy and had executed several attacks on us despite our opportune location. My soaking clothes were proof of the attacks we had endured.

Our rant also carried out throughout the meal as we defended our own case on who had won. Of course, by the end, we were no closer to naming a winner and just forfeited out of exhaustion. We had spent the entire day outside in the midst of our battle and were now past ready for sleep.

By the time I finally crashed down onto my bed I barely had enough energy to crawl under the covers. I was asleep by the time I had pulled them up to my face and relished in the warmth it provided.

XXX

A week later we were packing our trunks and heading for Hogsmeade Station. I was very excited to be heading home for the holidays and being able to see my parents. Of course, we had written back-and-forth constantly, but I was still worried about how constant their names were appearing in the Daily Prophet.

"I can't wait to eat all the plum pudding I can get my hands on!" Max exclaimed when we had all sat down.

James and the other fifth years had opted to sit in their own compartment which freed up a lot of space. As much as I liked my brother and his friends, the extra leg room was nice, especially since we were all getting older.

"Yea, well my favourite is decorating the Christmas tree," Elodie said excitedly.

"Are your sisters all coming home?" I asked.

Elodie shrugged. "Probably, but I haven't talked to them recently."

I found it strange that there were four sisters and Elodie hardly spoke to any of them throughout the year. One of her sister's, Francine, had even been at Hogwarts for our first two years but we had hardly ever seen her. I couldn't imagine ignoring James, no matter how annoying he could be.

"Will Sirius be staying at your place over the holidays?" Fern asked to change the subject.

"Yea, he always does," I answered simply.

"Have you figured out what the boys have been up to?" she continued.

"No, and I don't think I want to know."

"We hear them leave every night and they usually don't come back until dawn usually," Wendall added.

I simply shrugged again. The others looked at me skeptically.

"Do you think that's why they got their own compartment this time?" Fern asked.

I shrugged again, much to the annoyance of the rest, but I honestly had no idea what it was the boys were up to and felt it best that it stayed that way.

The group then shared a look before all turning to face me.

"Absolutely not!" I exclaimed, folding my arms over my chest, already knowing what they were thinking.

"They're in the next compartment," Zelene said innocently.

"And you're the smallest," Blythe added as I returned her statement with a scowl.

"Fern is smaller, actually," I retorted.

"Yea, but you're stealthier," Max replied with a smirk.

I looked at Fern for help.

"Well, it's true," she said simply, obviously not offended and probably relieved the attention hadn't been turned onto her.

"You've done it before," Elodie reasoned while I sighed.

In our second year they had also forced me to crawl into the vent and spy on James since that had been the only other time they had sat separately from us. It had turned out that James had been trying to think of a plan to ask out Lily Evans and hadn't wanted the embarrassment of talking it out in front of his younger sister. We had all howled with laughter when I had reported back.

"You know I'm not twelve years old anymore, what if I don't fit?" I asked as a last-ditch effort to change the plan.

But, Max was already standing up and offering his hand to boost me up, the conversation was clearly over. I sighed again before climbing up onto Max's hand and opening the grate. The vent was smaller than I remembered and caused me to leave my feet hanging out. However, I inched closer so that my face was pressed up against the opposite vent and I could see James and Sirius sitting across. This meant that Peter and Remus must be sitting underneath me.

"I can't believe we finally did it! The feeling was almost euphoric!" Sirius exclaimed while I cringed.

 _I didn't really know if I wanted to eavesdrop on this particular conversation._

"Yea, plus I'm finally glad to be able to get some sleep after all these long nights. I knew we were close!" James added.

I watched the boys quizzically. Despite claiming to want to maintain my innocence for the sake of my parents, I had been intrigued as to why the boys had been sneaking out every night. We had already spent many nights trying to guess and my group of friends had nixed the idea of them meeting up with some girls due to the fact that Peter tagged along all the time. The boy couldn't talk to girls let alone ask one out.

"You know you guys didn't have to do this," I heard Remus say quietly.

 _It almost seemed like he was embarrassed._

"Not this again Moony, we told you we would do it," James responded.

 _Moony? What was that. They had never used nicknames before._

"Well I appreciate it, Prongs," Remus replied sincerely.

 _It seemed they all had a new, dopey nickname._

"What if people figure it out from Remus' boggart?" I heard Peter ask in his squeaky voice.

 _Moony? Remus had been afraid of the full moon. Or werewolves…_

"No one will figure it out, who would even suspect?" Sirius answered casually as we waved his hand dismissively.

"But Snape has been following us around," Peter added worriedly.

I saw Sirius' face turn. "That snake needs to learn to mind his own damn business!"

"Calm down Padfoot, he won't find out a thing," James added, trying to calm Sirius down.

"But what if Severus finds out Remus is a werewolf?!" Peter asked, his voice even higher than usual.

My breath caught in my throat.

"That's why we use the nicknames Peter! Don't say that out loud!" James chastised.

 _Remus was a werewolf! That's why he was always so sickly. That's why he didn't talk about his past._

It was no secret how marginalized werewolves were amongst the wizard population.

It also explained his boggart and a lot of other things over the past four years I had known him. But what had the boys been doing? It was extremely dangerous to be around a werewolf during a full moon, they had little control over their faculties.

A chilling thought crossed my mind.

 _What if Remus had accidently turned them?_

 _No, that was foolish._

I chastised myself. Remus would never put them in harm's way like that or at the very least he would never forgive himself if he did turn one of his friends and Remus hadn't looked especially guilty about anything recently.

I decided to come out of the vent since I had heard more than enough.

"So? What's the scoop?" Zelene asked as I returned to my seat.

"Oh, he's just ogling about Lily again. He wants to know what to get her for a Christmas present," I said as convincingly as I could while I rolled my eyes.

The others started to laugh, all accept for Blythe who looked at me knowingly. I just shrugged back at her. She kept her stare for a few more moments before deciding to finally turn away.

Blythe knew me too well, but this definitely wasn't my secret to tell. I knew my friends most likely wouldn't think much of Remus' condition, but James had never even told me. Remus obviously wanted to keep this private and I respected that.

For the rest of the trip I tried to think about the other nicknames that they had used.

If Moony was code for werewolf, what in the name of Merlin did Padfoot and Prongs mean?

I remained mostly quiet for the rest of the train ride back to London as I pondered over the details.

Whatever the boys had been doing had something to do with keeping Remus' secret and involved completing some sort of project.

But they had also bestowed new nicknames on themselves other than the Marauders.

So, if Moony meant werewolf… did the others indicate something else? Like other animals or creatures.

We were now pulling into King's Cross and I could see James and the others passing by with their trunks and laughing with one another. I stared at each of them as they walked by and frowned as I felt like the answer was on the tip of my tongue.

 _What had you gotten yourself into this time James?_


	7. End of a Year

I woke up to the sound of James excitedly pounding on my door.

"Wake-up Addie! It's finally Christmas!" he exclaimed eagerly.

I heard his feet retreat down the hall, probably to go make sure mum and dad were already awake.

I took the moment of relative silence to sit up in my bed and rub my eyes sleepily. We had stayed up late last night since our parents had hosted a Christmas Eve party for their colleagues, most of whom were from the Auror Department. James and Sirius had also taken the opportunity to try and get as much information as possible about the war by going around and mingling with the department officials.

Alastor Moody had been in attendance as well and had made sure everyone from their department remained tight lipped about any classified investigations and headed off the boys' antics.

I had met Alastor a couple of times before and always found him to be extremely interesting. Mum and dad were always going on about how he was the top auror in the department and had the most arrests amongst anyone.

I also knew he held a reputation for being highly intimidating and noticed that he was the only one James never confronted for information. But, I always made a point of approaching him since I knew he wasn't as scary as he wanted the world to see him and would often regale me with at least one or two of his stories from work. Then he would wink at me afterwards and shoo me off to go and contain James. He was going to have his hands full when James and Sirius sent in their applications in two years and I guessed that he was already dreading it.

I smiled at the memory of James sulking when I had talked to Alastor and he had only gotten chastised.

Sirius had also attended the party last night since he had spent the entire holiday with us so far. Things with his mother were at an all time low and I also had a slight suspicion that his family was under some sort of investigation from the Auror Department. My parents had insisted that Sirius stay for the entire holiday when usually they would at least suggest that he try and see his family once during the holidays.

But Sirius hadn't shown any hesitation or regret for not seeing his family. I knew how horrible they were, but I also frowned at the thought of not wanting to be around your own family at Christmas.

"Are you up yet Ly?!" I heard a pounding at my door again.

I rolled my eyes as I recognized Sirius' voice at my door.

At least James and Sirius didn't barge in anymore like they used to when they were younger. Dad had put an immediate stop to that about two years ago when he started to notice I wasn't his little girl anymore.

I begrudgingly threw back my blankets and hurried for my robe which was hanging on the back of my door. Our large manor was often hard to keep warm during the winter, especially in the bedrooms which were all down the east wing of the house. Our parents had a fire place in their master bedroom, but us kids had to make do with extra blankets.

I then exited my bedroom and was immediately met by my brother who had his arm extended as if he were just about to knock on my door again.

"It's about time Addie!" James exclaimed before he bolted down the hallway again towards the kitchen.

I could already hear clanging of pots and pans which meant that Garrick was probably starting on breakfast.

"I can't believe how excited he still gets about Christmas," I said, shaking my head.

Sirius laughed from beside me.

"Come on Ly, where's your Christmas spirit?"

I frowned slightly as I thought back to the years where it had been both James and I waking our parents before dawn to go and open presents. I could remember the excitement being almost palpable as we ran through the manor with our new toys.

"I guess that sort of thing just goes away over time," I said with a shrug.

"Nah, I don't believe that. You still have it somewhere deep down, but you just refuse to let it out. Christmas spirit thrives off excitement, you just have to figure out what to get excited for," he said as we continued to walk together, hearing the raucous sounds of my brother in the distance.

I thought about this more. I guess when we were younger I had always been excited about the gifts and being able to eat sweets for breakfast and going outside to play in the snow with James until our parents called us in for dinner.

Maybe Christmas could be exciting over things other than getting presents.

"What about your Christmas spirit?" I asked reproachfully.

Sirius scoffed.

"The Black's don't believe in smiling let alone celebrating anything other than their sacred namesake," he spat.

I frowned at him as I noticed his look of utter disgust. But then he turned to me, with a smile replacing his expression.

"You guys have given me my Christmas spirit."

I returned my own smile towards Sirius as we reached the living room. My parents were already sitting with their cups of tea while James paced around the room in anticipation. When Sirius and I sat down James proceeded to dive under the tree and root around for his presents.

I couldn't help but think that this is why Lily Evans refused to date my brother. He was an absolute child.

However, despite my brother's juvenile tendencies, I found myself truly enjoying the day spent with Sirius and my family.

Sirius and I did oblige James by going out and building a snow fort outside as well as going tobogganing at the end of the property. It wasn't until the sun was setting that we decided to go in and warm up with some steaming hot chocolate.

"Look what I found?" my mother exclaimed as she came into the living room carrying a photo album.

The three of us were sitting with out hot chocolate while dad drank some fire whisky and told stories about some of his childhood Christmas'.

'Mum!" James groaned as he realized it was the album mum had kept from our childhood filled with Christmas photos.

Most were highly embarrassing.

"Have a heart James," mum chastised as Sirius eagerly moved to sit beside her and I grudgingly went to join him.

Sirius was already laughing as my mum opened the book.

"Why is Addie in a box?" Sirius asked as he looked at the picture which showed James trying to stuff a Christmas box with peanuts as I cried to get out.

"This was Addie's first Christmas and James was still upset that she was too young to be his playmate, so he got the idea to send her back to Santa and ask for an older sister," Euphemia laughed.

I scowled at James who sheepishly shrugged.

Mum turned the page which showed James and I as a few years older and James was waving around some mistletoe.

"What in the name of Merlin is James doing with the mistletoe?" Sirius chortled.

Fleamont laughed.

"Oh, I remember that one. James and Addie were the best of friends by that point and James had seen Euphemia and I kissing under the mistletoe. So, I ended up having to explain to James that because Euphemia was my wife and I loved her very much that I was allowed to kiss her. James then got a chair and snatched the mistletoe before chasing Adeline down and telling her he loved her more than anything in the world. He then kissed her on the cheek," Fleamont mused.

James turned red.

"Well, it made sense at the time. I didn't know what type of love dad was talking about and it just seemed obvious that Addie should be the one I should kiss under the mistletoe."

I rolled my eyes at my brother while Sirius howled with laughter.

"So, you were always this thick," Sirius said before we heard a crash in the kitchen.

Mum got up and rushed out of the room check on Garrick before announcing dinner was ready moments later.

The turkey was a little burnt but still delicious.

James' excitement was dampened slightly by Sirius who wouldn't drop the mistletoe story. It got worse afterwards when Sirius took some from the archway and chased James throughout the manner with it.

I stayed to help mum and dad clean up with Garrick.

"Trying to keep away from the boys?" mum asked knowingly.

"They're just being idiots," I scoffed, shaking my head.

"You know, not too long ago it was you egging James on and chasing him around," dad commented with a smile.

"Yea, well I've learned James doesn't need to be egged on to get in over his head," I blurted before quickly gathering the rest of the dishes and carrying them out of the room.

Euphemia and Fleamont shared a look after they watched their daughter leave the room.

Fleamont sighed. "Do you think James has done something?"

Euphemia continued to stare after her daughter. Adeline usually kept quiet about James to avoid being reprimanded for his actions. It seemed that her son may have done something that surpassed Adeline's own self-preservation.

That made Euphemia anxious.

But over the next week Adeline remained silent on the matter and didn't show any further indication that she was fretting about her brother.

Euphemia remained suspicious of her children, especially since she knew Adeline was always guarded with her emotions. Opposite from James, who often spoke without thinking, she knew Adeline only confided in others if it presented a beneficial outcome for her. She was quite astute as a child, and it only seemed to become amplified as she got older.

Euphemia only worried that her daughter would become too closed in while her son became too exposed. There was a war brewing after all and Euphemia only hoped that she had prepared her children to be able to survive it.

XXX

There was a knock at the door which sent James bolting down the stairs.

"Remus!" James greeted as he opened the door and beckoned his friend inside.

Blythe, Elodie, and Fern were already here as we waited for the rest to arrive for New Year's Eve.

Our parents had gone out to one of their friend's houses for the evening and had allowed us to invite our friends over for the occasion.

"Grab a marshmallow," I said as Remus joined us in the living room where we were making smores with the others.

We had a stock pile of junk food to last us for the rest of the year.

"Is everyone else on their way?" Remus asked.

"Yup! Max is on his way with Zel and then we are just waiting for Peter and Wendall," I answered.

Remus nodded and took a seat beside Sirius who passed him a finished smore before putting another marshmallow onto his roasting fork.

The others arrived shortly after which seemed to kick off our little party.

James found the stash of dad's fire whiskey in no time and started handing out generous glasses full. I stared down at the amber liquid when Fern handed me a glass. I had tasted the fiery drink a couple of times before but had never had a full cup.

I took a deep breath as I surveyed my friends who seemed to have no problem greedily gulping from their glasses.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and tipped my head while the fiery liquid burned my throat.

It was getting close to midnight and the boys had secretively gone off into the other room while the rest of us sat in the living room. I was lying on the floor, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

I could hear the boys almost giggling as they re-entered the room. Obviously, most of them were some level of drunk.

"What were you guys doing? It's almost midnight?" Zelene asked.

James was giggling as he surveyed the room with an odd look in his eyes.

I sat up and turned my gaze to Sirius who only shrugged and gave a mischievous grin.

"Guys! One minute to go!" Elodie exclaimed excitedly.

I stood up, losing my balance for a moment, before steadying myself and going over to my friends.

"Wait a minute, guys!" James whined.

"Shut it James," Sirius retorted as he walked over towards me.

"Ten seconds!" Fern squealed.

"We did the math wrong," James continued as the others ignored him.

I continued to look in between the boys who all had mischievous grins and were blatantly ignoring James.

"Nine!" Elodie started counting down.

I noticed the other boys were also approaching specific people.

"Eight!" I joined in, still watching the boys.

"Seven!"

"This isn't fair!" James howled, still being ignored.

"Six, Five, Four…"

Sirius was extremely close now. Wendall was next to Elodie, Max next to Blythe.

"Three, two…"

 _What were they doing?_

"One," Sirius breathed before leaning down and kissing me on the lips.

My first kiss was with Sirius Black.

What. The. Fuck.

When Sirius finally leaned back I still hadn't closed my eyes. I was now staring into his deep, gray eyes. It was followed by his cocky grin.

I was absolutely shocked before I started to feel an anger surge through my stomach.

What the hell was the idea with the boys kissing all of us. We were all friends, what was the big idea?

But, before I could say anything James stormed over and picked Sirius up by the scruff of his shirt.

"What the hell Sirius?" he asked, a slight slur in his words.

"This was the plan wasn't it James?" Sirius said plainly.

"Well, yea, but…" he sputtered.

Sirius cut him off. "So, I did nothing wrong," he continued innocently with a shrug.

James' face turned red.

"But she's my sister!"

"And you wanted someone else to kiss her?" Sirius said, a slight challenge in his voice.

I could see James trying to form an argument in his head.

"But, I didn't get to kiss anyone!" he whined instead.

I took this moment to look around the room and see who had been kissed by whom.

It looked like besides Wendall kissing Elodie and Max kissing Blythe, Remus had surprisingly kissed Zelene, and even more astonishingly Peter had kissed Fern. There was a mix of affronted, confused, and staggered reactions. It was hard to tell if anyone was happy or even intrigued by what had happened.

All I knew was I had had enough.

"Alright, well I'm going to bed," I said as I stood up and looked at all the girls.

Fern was at my side faster than I thought possible and Blythe closely followed. I could see Elodie at least saying good-bye to Wendall while Zelene still sat beside Remus.

"Coming Zel?" Fern asked.

She nodded before standing and slowly following after us. I was already out of the room.

"Ly…" I heard Sirius say from behind me.

I didn't even look back as I lead the way to my bedroom.

What a year this was already turning out to be.


	8. The Infamous Sirius Black

I was glad to see my trunk put in its usual place at the foot of my bed when we entered the dormitory. The Return Feast had been as delicious as ever and I was beat.

The train ride had felt longer than usual, and that was saying something. We had sat apart from the fifth year boys, and surprisingly, I had been grateful.

I quickly headed over to my bed and pulled out some pyjamas before darting into the washroom. I tried taking my time, hoping the others were as exhausted as me and would be asleep by the time I came out.

Twenty minutes later, I had no such luck.

"Are we ever going to talk about New Year's?" Elodie asked as they all surrounded me.

Elodie and Fern were sitting together on Fern's bed while Blythe patted the seat next to her on her own. Zelene was also sitting on her own bed since it was directly across from Fern and Blythe's.

I grudgingly went to sit down beside Blythe, but not without rolling my eyes. I had expertly been avoiding talking about the boys' idiotic plan to kiss everyone on New Year's because it was so _idiotic._ No mention was needed ever again.

But as I looked at each of my friends I saw they were reacting differently than me. Fern, thankfully, also looked mortified, but that wasn't surprising. But, Zelene on the other hand looked as if she were mildly blushing at the thought, which was completely uncharacteristic of her. Usually, she was almost bored with the boys she dated, and definitely didn't blush after she snogged them. Elodie looked similarly as Zelene, which was peculiar still. Why weren't they acting appropriately!?

Exasperated, I turned to Blythe who just gave me an apologetic look. I huffed in frustration.

"Take it easy Addie, they didn't mean anything by it," Elodie started in a soft tone.

Fern turned her expression in disgust.

"See, I'm not the only one who didn't appreciate being bombarded by the boys, Fern didn't like it either," I pointed out, not wanting to be a mountain.

"Sheesh, that's an easy out Addie," Zelene chided, also rolling her eyes.

Fern didn't even come to my aid and the others shook their heads. None of us were surprised by Fern's reaction.

"Fine," I sighed exaggeratingly while crossing my arms over my chest.

"So, how did he kiss?" Zelene asked, no hint of jealousy in her voice.

I could feel my face turning bright red.

"Zel, we just got Addie to agree to talk to us and you go right for the kill. We don't want to scare her back," Blythe said mockingly.

It's like I was a deer in the headlights, or better yet an injured rabbit coaxed out of its hidey-hole.

"Well how 'bout you tell us all about Remus if you're so eager!" I shot back, feeling extremely uncomfortable in my own skin.

I saw Zelene turn that blush shade of pink again before smiling to herself.

"It was sweet," she answered simply.

"And?" Elodie asked, clearly wanting more details.

In the past, Elodie and the rest of us hadn't been too keen on the details of Zelene's love life, now it looked as if Elodie wanted to dig it out of her.

"I don't know, it was different. _He_ was different. I don't know how to explain it besides sweet. Remus isn't like any of the other boys who have snogged me," she replied thoughtfully.

"Ooh," Elodie squealed as she latched onto Fern.

I couldn't stop the laugh from escaping my lips which earned a scowl from the squished Fern. She wasn't typically a very hands-on type of person to begin with.

I returned my gaze back to Zelene who still looked as if she were caught up in the memory of New Year's. It was baffling how much this seemed to affect her. I mean it had just been a half-assed plan probably spear-headed by James and Sirius, hadn't it?

"Are you going to ask him out Zel?" Blythe asked, always the one with the direct questions.

Zelene's blush darkened.

"I don't think so, at least not yet," she answered delicately.

I could tell she was contemplating something.

"But I thought you liked him?" Elodie asked, obviously confused.

"I mean, yeah, Remus is a great guy whom I think I would actually be happy to be with, but he seems so closed off in that respect," she continued with a frown.

The conversation I overheard on the train came flooding back. Of course, he didn't usually date, Remus didn't want the risk of being exposed.

But maybe if it were with the right girl? Someone he trusted to keep his secret. Maybe he could one day see himself with Zelene, but how long would that take?

I frowned to myself as I mulled it over and decided I felt bad for Remus and his life-altering secret.

"Adeline!" I heard my name being called which brought me out of my reverie.

"How was kissing Sirius Black?" Elodie asked in an exasperated tone.

I could feel another sudden bout of panic.

"Why don't we ask Blythe about kissing Max?" I suggested quickly.

Blythe playfully shoved my arm in response and I could see Elodie rolling her eyes.

"It's Max. He's a nice guy and a great quidditch player, but that's about it," Blythe answered casually with a shrug.

I knew Blythe was just as interested in dating as I was. So how was it that she could shrug off her answer, but I was being bombarded for mine.

"Elodie, how was Wendall?" I asked quickly, beating her to the punch against me.

I could tell she was frustrated but her cheeks dusted a light pink.

"He is a good kisser, and a perfect gentleman," she answered in obvious delight.

I could tell Fern was holding back rolling her eyes as Elodie's arms, which were still wrapped around her, squeezed tighter.

"Think you're going to go for it?" Zelene asked.

Elodie just shrugged.

"I don't know, I actually haven't thought about it. It's weird though, Wendall has been our friend for four years, I don't know if I could see him as anything more," she said contemplatively.

But before we could wait for an answer, all four sets of eyes turned on me at once and it was all I could do not to bury my head under the pillow.

"Why does it matter so much?" I sulked, not understanding their blatant interest in Sirius' kiss.

"Because, you ignorant prat, Sirius obviously devised this plan so he could kiss you without James going off on him," Blythe said bluntly.

I looked at the others who all nodded accordingly.

"That's not true," I replied lamely, not sure what to believe.

Was it true, had this all been a ploy? But why would Sirius want to kiss me?

Regardless of the facts, I thought, wanting to ignore the itch in the back of my mind, I had blatantly turned him down when I left the room. And I was yet to properly speak with him so hopefully, that would squelch any possible scenario of me liking Sirius or wanting to be with him.

My friends looked at me as if I were dense but thankfully let it go after that. We were all pretty exhausted from the holidays and wanted to get a good rest before classes resumed tomorrow.

None of us bothered to ask Fern about her kiss, I mean for Merlin's sake it was Peter. I was just surprised that he had sought up the courage to even attempt to kiss any girl at all.

I was still confused as I laid in my bed and replayed the events over in my head from New Year's Eve. I remembered the glimmering light from the fire place reflecting over his silky, black hair. His wily gray eyes with a level of intensity shining through. The softness of his hands as they settled gently on my shoulders and brought my head towards his. The eagerness of his lips even though he held back and only lightly brushed them against mine.

The sensation had immediately sent my back shivering with a course of electricity and I didn't know if that kind of reaction was normal. It had been so intense, I didn't know if I ever wanted to experience it again.

It was almost frustrating how much I didn't know about kissing and all the rest or how I even felt about the experience. It seemed so trivial in the grand scheme of everything else, and yet it somehow made a large impact.

I rolled onto my side in frustration and shut the thoughts from my mind. I couldn't tell if any of the others were sleeping yet since their breaths weren't slow or even. Maybe their minds were whirling as much as mine.

What was I supposed to do?

XXX

The next evening answered that question bluntly when a perky little Ravenclaw sat down beside me for dinner.

"Can I help you?" I asked the girl, confused by her presence.

Two point five seconds later, that question was answered.

"Oh, I'm joining Siri for dinner with his friends," she answered in a squeaky little voice.

 _Siri? What the hell kind of name is that?_

Everything about her screamed cute and frilly, but I could tell underneath there was something less than innocent. Her presence was unsettling, and I didn't like her being so close to me. I tried to angle myself away from her and refocus on Elodie who had been talking about her Care of Magical Creatures class.

I was interrupted again.

"Oh, Maddie, this is Adeline Potter," Sirius introduced in his fake-sounding voice.

I looked up into his eyes with an incredulous look and saw the challenge in his eyes. I scowled in return.

"Oh, I know who she is," she said casually.

 _What the hell was that supposed to mean?_

"It's Addie actually," I replied in an annoyed tone.

This Maddie girl completely ignored my reply.

"You are a pretty great keeper, and have all the boys looking after you," she said instead, with a slight malice underlaying her tone.

I gaped in response but thankfully Blythe came to my aid.

"Addie is an exceptional keeper actually. Gryffindor has won against Ravenclaw every game since she made the team," Blythe quipped which made Maddie scowl.

I was eternally grateful for Blythe in that moment.

"Maddie weren't you talking about your summer home in Wales?" Peter asked in his squeaky voice, filled with something equivocal to desire.

This turned her interest away from me and Blythe as she turned to Peter with a glowing smile.

This whole situation made my skin crawl. Maddie was obviously a horrible person and Sirius was now apparently with her. And not just that but bringing her to sit with us at dinner. He never did that.

I then shot Elodie a look. I could tell she was also uncomfortable as she looked between me and Maddie. I guess they had been wrong about Sirius being the devious matchmaker on New Year's.

I soon lost my appetite as I listened to her annoying voice go on about her family's riches and seasonal homes.

 _I thought it annoyed Sirius when anyone went on about their wealth, it reminded him too much of his family._

Shaking my head, I stood up and told my friends I wold meet them in the dormitory later on. I didn't even look at Sirius when I passed and headed out of the Great Hall. After wandering around for a while, I did end up in my dormitory and eventually decided to get ahead on my readings. But half-way through the first chapter I couldn't focus and eventually gave up on the book.

Maybe Sirius would dump this girl by the end of the week. Or maybe even by tomorrow. I mean, he never dated anyone for that long and Maddie was obviously awful. I'm sure he would realize this sooner rather than later.

That level of comfort allowed me to return to my reading which eventually put me to sleep. I didn't even hear the others come up for bed and didn't wake until early morning.

When I did wake up the next morning, I crept out of bed so not to wake the others and enjoyed the freedom of a long shower. While soaking in the hot shower, I couldn't help thinking of the idiotic nature of Sirius' new relationship and held onto the knowledge that it would probably soon be over. Maybe I could even talk to Sirius about it, and we could make amends. I figured I had been upset with him for long enough and just wanted things to go back to normal. The group of us had all been friends for so long, and it always seemed to come effortlessly, but I couldn't help but feel the tension between us lately. James and his group were more distant, and I couldn't help but think I was to blame. I didn't want us to drift apart. Especially in a time like this, friendship was everything and I didn't want something so trivial to wrench us all apart.

So, after I was dressed in my robes, I marched down the staircase and decidedly headed for the Great Hall where I would wait for Sirius and the others to join.

I stepped out of the portrait hole with determination but ended up bumping into someone standing right in the other side.

I picked myself up off the ground and tried not to grumble out loud as I brushed myself off.

"Where are you off to in a hurry?" I heard his familiar voice ask.

I smiled, despite my annoyance, at Sirius.

"I actually wanted to talk to you," I said casually.

"Really?" he asked mischievously.

I furrowed my brow but pressed on.

"Yes, I wanted to declare a truce…" I started but was cut off by a high-pitched squeal.

"Siri!" Maddie shouted as she skipped over and flung herself onto Sirius.

 _Siri? Who the hell called him that?_

Unfortunately, at the last minute, he opened his arms for the unexpected gesture and caught her instead of letting her fall.

"Good morning Adeline," Maddie greeted in her too sweet voice.

"It's Addie," I replied bluntly.

She ignored me.

"I thought we were going to the kitchens alone," she whined as I turned my surprised stare onto Sirius.

It was a Marauder rule not to share trade secrets with girls.

I saw an unreadable expression cross Sirius' face before he broke into his own plastered smile.

"Of course, Maddie. I was just saying good morning to Addie was all," he said before he kissed Maddie right in front of me.

I was immediately uncomfortable and turned away. Without another word I walked off towards the Great Hall and didn't even turn around when I heard Sirius say my name. I was too angry.


	9. Evil

Unfortunately, Maddie eventually became an unwanted fixture in our group. Sirius had now been dating her for three months, an all-time record. Accordingly, the rest of us were at an all-time low. The silver lining was that the Marauders were back to hanging out with us all of the time, despite mine and Sirius' rift because they were now privy to the horribleness to whom is Maddie Baker. Even Peter's infatuation ended after she made him carry her bag one day and then magically tied his shoe laces together to make him trip. He had also been standing at the top of a short flight of stairs. Poor Peter had a slight limp for the rest of the week, but Sirius was still dating her. It was beyond infuriating. James was even starting to crack.

"I can't believe he is still with that foul beast!" James said one day as he joined us in the common room.

"Don't you think that might be a bit harsh?" Elodie asked in her more innocent sounding voice.

"Hardly," I replied before James could say anything.

As far as I knew I was leading the 'We Despise Maddie' club. The boys had been against me at first but had slowly come around after the first month. The attack on Peter had been the crux which had sent James wanting to attack her. Remus and Max had had to sit on him to get him to calm down and stay.

"What did she do this time?" Blythe asked sardonically.

We were all already annoyed with whatever it was.

"Sirius and I had plans to practice flying tonight after dinner. So, after I finished I headed down and went to the broom shed to retrieve my firebolt…" James paused awkwardly.

"I change my mind, I don't want to hear this," I replied, feeling embarrassed just looking at James.

"You know, I know Sirius is a player, but there's never been a girl that came between us," James said more seriously.

"Come on James, you had to know this was coming," Remus said, trying to sound reasonable.

"Yea, I guess. But why her? She's just so horrible and whiny and wretched," James went on using synonyms for the word evil.

"Well, we better rest up, we do have an actual practice tomorrow, and we have to be prepared to smother the Ravenclaws," I said probably a little too dramatically.

"Come on Potter," Blythe said, putting her arm around me as we headed towards our dorm.

None of the girls had said anything to me about Sirius since Maddie had entered our lives. I think they may have felt badly for the way things turned out, but part of me was relieved. I hadn't liked the pressure I felt to figure out my feelings for Sirius, and now Maddie was the perfect reason not to. I just wish it wasn't her.

The next day at practice seemed like a test on my nerves, but it wasn't because of the drills. Somehow, Sirius had convinced Indigo to let Maddie watch the practice despite her Ravenclaw status. I wasn't even convinced she wasn't acting as a spy, so the rest of us took to communicating in subtle codes to avoid giving away our strategies. Thankfully, most of us had been playing together for years, and Riley was a quick study.

"You've got this Siri! Beat her out of the sky!" I heard Maddie maliciously shriek from the stands.

I could see Sirius practicing against Blythe and figured Maddie was directing her insult at her. I rolled my eyes and clenched my teeth as I tried to focus on Max speeding towards me. Thankfully, even the distraction didn't stop me from saving Max's diving maneuver and I made the save. No one had made a goal on me yet.

"Should we call it a night?" Indigo asked when the sun started to dip in the sky.

We had obviously been out here for hours and Maddie's whining had gotten louder.

My own stomach started to growl, and I felt confident in my abilities for the game this weekend.

I was the first one to dismount since my patience had grown dangerously thin and that was not pairing well with my hunger. James had already called the balls back into the trunk, so I was carrying it back to the storage shed. Unfortunately, I was pre-occupied and let my guard down. I didn't see them waiting for me.

"Petrificus totalus!" I heard a familiar voice say from behind me.

He had obviously been waiting for me and wasn't alone.

When I fell I went down hard and smacked my shoulder off of the trunk, falling face first.

I could hear Malfoy circling me with his cronies, no doubt Mulciber and Snape. I was angry that I couldn't see them or anticipate their next move.

"Potter thinks she's a natural-born prodigy, doesn't she. Heiress to a family of blood-traitors. It makes me sick," Lucius Malfoy spat from beside me.

He was getting cockier now that Narcissa Black was dating him.

He bent down, and I could feel his breath on my ear.

"You and that brainless idiot of a brother you have will lose everything to the Dark Lord, and then you will kneel before us all," he whispered in his slimy voice.

I wanted to vomit. His concentration was also wavering since I could feel my body starting to relax. The second the spell broke I was on my feet with my wand drawn. The adrenaline was covering the pain as I stared Malfoy down. Mulciber and Snape were loitering behind him with their wands drawn towards me.

"You are simply outnumbered Adeline," he said my name with the cunning smoothness of a snake.

"And you are a coward," I retorted coolly.

His reverence was shaken slightly as the smirk fell from his face.

"I think you ought to be taken down a notch Malfoy. Narcissa sure seems to have brought you through the ranks that you surely couldn't have done alone" I continued, aiming towards his delicate ego.

His expression was now turned as he pointed his wand glaringly towards me.

"You are being baited Lucius," Snape said knowingly.

I could see Severus' withering expression pointed towards me, along with his wand.

He was standing off to the left side and I turned my attention to him instead of Malfoy. I knew Snape probably posed the biggest threat.

But, our interlocked glare was interrupted when Snape was thrown backwards by an invisible force. Obviously, the team had caught up.

Malfoy and Mulciber took the moment of confusion to run around the back of the stands, undetected by the others, while Snape was rendered immobile by Sirius.

"Attacking girls when they're all alone now, Snivellus?" Sirius scathed at Snape.

I had never seen him this angry before.

Blythe and Riley were already by my side, making sure I was okay while I watched Sirius go after Snape with James at his side.

I stepped over to intervene before either of them did something offensive enough to get themselves expelled.

"It wasn't him," I said decisively, already standing in between Snape and the boys.

"What are you talking about Addie, did you hit your head?" James asked skeptically.

I scoffed. "No, I did not hit my head, it was my shoulder actually. And Malfoy is the one who attacked me. Snape just followed," I explained pointedly.

"That's no better!" Sirius retorted, leaving his wand aimed over my shoulder at Snape.

"Stand down Sirius," I said evenly, staring him right in the eyes.

He shook his head angrily, but finally lowered his wand. James followed suit.

"You're going to stand up for this Death Eater, Ly?" Sirius asked maliciously.

"Of course not, idiot. I'm standing up for you, so you don't get expelled," I said evenly again.

Sirius laughed sardonically and went off in the other direction, probably to let off some steam.

Snape disappeared, probably to go catch up with the other two cowards.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Blythe asked as she came back up beside me.

"No, I think I'm just going to clean up, I'll meet you back up at the school," I said before leaving to go to the changeroom.

The hot shower felt wonderful on my aching shoulder and helped to clear my head. Maddie's annoyance was a mere blip in comparison to the other events of the night. It didn't bode well either that the younger students were acting more brashly and were now apparently singling lone students out to attack. Or at least me. Lucius Malfoy was your typical pure-blood nutter who craved the power of status. He had been recently betrothed to Narcissa Black which seemed idiotic and revolting. However, arranged marriages were typical amongst the pure blood families and explains why the gene pool is so limited. The name Potter is also discredited amongst these families, which is why James and I are often targeted. But this seemed like a new turn. Bellatrix and the Carrows are notoriously known for their random attacks, but not underlings like Malfoy. Things were obviously changing outside the walls of Hogwarts. I wondered if I should write home and discuss it with mum and dad, but they would probably worry too much about it.

I came out of the changeroom twenty minutes later and stopped just outside the door. The dusk lighting provided cover while I listened to the four fifth years talk amongst themselves in the middle of the pitch.

"So, our usual meeting outside the Whomping Willow tomorrow night?" Sirius asked aloud.

"Of course Padfoot, have you calmed down enough to head in for dinner?" James asked meaningfully.

"Yea, I'm good. I just wanted to clarify that we are meeting beneath the new tree under the full moon tomorrow night," Sirius said again, rather narratively.

"Let's go Padfoot, I think you took a bludger to the head," Remus joined in before the four boys walked off towards the castle.

I waited a few minutes to follow and was still puzzled by the way Sirius was acting. Little did I know, I wasn't the only one listening to the boys' conversation.

XXX

The following night I was tossing in my bed. The ominous conversation I had heard Sirius tell the others was stuck in my head. I knew it was a full moon, and Remus was presumably being a wolf somewhere, but I had to confirm my suspicions. I was almost positive these new nicknames had to do with animals, and that would impossibly mean that the other three boys were illegal animagi.

The girls were all asleep when I slipped out of the dormitory and headed down the stairs. I had snuck out hundreds of times, but this was the first time I ever felt nervous. Obviously, I knew this was unbelievably risky, but a small part of me wondered if Sirius' bizarre conversation had been for my benefit. I mean, they had known I was in the change room, so maybe he wanted to tell me without the others finding out.

I skillfully snuck out of the castle and stopped just outside the front door. I waited for my eyes to adjust and lifted my ear to listen for any suspicious noises. I couldn't hear any howling though. After I could see relatively well, I started across the lawn, towards the new tree they had only planted a few years ago. I had thought it was a very dangerous thing to plant at a school, especially since it had almost killed Davey Gudgeon last year.

The looming tree came into view and I stopped short at a surprising scene. A distant howl stilled my blood as I looked on with horror as Severus Snape approached a secret-looking hole in the ground. I could see James running after him and finally grabbing him by the shoulder before he could go any further. It appeared the tree was frozen and whatever had let out that horrible noise was at the other end of the hole Snape had been headed towards. James and Snape were now having a frantic discussion, but I couldn't hear the specifics. It was then that I realized Sirius was only fifty yards in front of me, watching the hole thing unravel. Except he wasn't horror-stricken like I was. I could see the amusement in the way he stood. Then it clicked together. Sirius hadn't said those things out loud for my benefit, it had been for Snape's.

My blood was now roiling as I stared at Sirius with contempt.

Before I knew what I was doing my feet were leading me straight towards Sirius who still hadn't seen me in the dark.

"Sirius Orion Black!" I shouted.

The figure in front of me quickly turned around and stared at me with a mixture of surprise and horror.

"Adeline why are you here?" he asked incredulously.

I could hear his panic.

"He could have died!" I shouted, ignoring his aimless stuttering.

"Were you trying to get him killed? Were you trying to murder him?!" I knew my voice was shrill by this point and I could hardly contain my fury.

"Addie, you need to leave. I need to get you out of here," he said worriedly, unfazed by my yelling.

"So I'm good enough to save? You have the decent sense to take me away from Remus, but you send Snape with an open invitation?" I continued maliciously.

"Remus?" he stopped. "How do you know about Remus?" he asked, panic now evident across his entire body.

"Adeline! Why in the name of Merlin are you here?" James asked as he approached, pulling Snape behind him.

"Nevermind that! Get inside." James ordered severely.

There was no room for objection.

"You are despicable!" I shouted one last time at Sirius before turning on my heel and booking it back into the castle.

I ran all the way back up to my dorm and barricaded myself under the blankets. My chest was aching, and I realized I was having trouble breathing. I had never been so furious in my entire life. How was it possible for Sirius to be so reckless and cruel? James had had to save Snape's life tonight because of Sirius' idiocy. It was unforgiveable.

There was a flood of hot tears running down my face as I tried to stifle my sobs. I felt like I didn't even know Sirius anymore. Dating a vindictive bitch like Maddie and now adding attempted homicide to that list. How was I ever supposed to forgive his recklessness, it had no bounds. What if James hadn't been there to step in? Then what? Sirius would be headed to Azkaban right now with a one-way ticket and Remus would be at the very least exposed.

And now they knew that she somehow knew his secret. Addie did not get a lot of sleep that night and spent most of it trying not to hyperventilate. She had absolutely no idea what to do in the morning.


	10. It's Over

It had been eleven days since Adeline Potter had said a word to him. Of course, he had tried, but her murderous stares always stopped him in his tracks. Sirius knew he had completely messed up this time.

He was sitting in the middle of the empty pitch. The game had ended hours ago, and Sirius hadn't had the energy to celebrate. Gryffindor had clobbered Ravenclaw 310- 20 and he had a slight suspicion that Addie was upset enough that she had let the two goals in. She was such an exceptional flyer and Sirius missed her being a constant presence in his life. Now, he realized, he had taken the one girl who took him seriously for granted and now she may never talk to him again.

"I thought I would find you out here," Sirius heard his good friend say as he saw him walk across the pitch.

"Well, I was trying to hide," Sirius confessed, his usual air of confidence absent from his demeanor.

"Ah, I take it your plan has completely foiled," Remus said kindly, but in a knowing tone.

"I just wanted to make her notice me. And not just as James' friend. Or as a Marauder. If one person was to really see me, I wanted it to be her," Sirius said, not able to look Remus in the eyes.

Remus looked kindly at his friend whom he had known for five years. Sirius Black never ceased to amaze him, despite his more abrasive personality. Remus knew it was mostly an act, a defense mechanism to survive his family. But now, the typically confident boy looked smaller somehow, sitting in the middle of a field Remus always thought Sirius looked at home in. Riding a broom for him and James had always come easier. Probably easier than learning to walk.

"Have you talked to her?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice.

If it hadn't been a still evening, Remus thought he might not have heard him.

"Yes, I have," Remus answered carefully.

Addie was still his friend, and the prospect of becoming an owl did not seem tempting.

"Do you know how she found out?" Sirius continued.

"Yes," Remus said knowingly. "When I asked her about it she told me. Apparently, she heard Peter on the train. Something about climbing into the air vent to hear if James was whining about Lily again," Remus answered amusedly.

He hadn't been upset to learn that Adeline had found out about his condition. He had actually felt relieved that another one of his friends could share his burden. However, he had never been worried about Addie's reaction. Remus knew she was a lot like James, and both of them didn't have the capacity to judge Remus for what he was. Remus had also been grateful that she had kept it a secret and respected his wishes for keeping it private. Being called a blood traitor probably helped to understand the kind of tenfold isolation and ostracization Remus would surely endure if his secret got out.

"Do you think she can forgive me?" Sirius asked after several moments of contemplative silence.

Remus paused, and gave his friend a small smile. He could be extremely dense to the feelings of those around him. It was even worse whenever it came to Adeline.

"Of course, she will. But this time, I think you need to do something about it and stop waiting for her to come around," Remus answered kindly.

Sirius sighed and finally was able to look up at Remus.

"I guess asking Maddie out was a terrible idea," Sirius continued, giving Remus a small smile in return.

Remus chuckled at this.

"No, keeping her around for almost four months was the terrible mistake," Remus chided lightly.

"Yea, I suppose you're right. I just thought it would change things," Sirius stopped like he was in mid thought, and then gave up on whatever it was he had been thinking.

"Sirius, Adeline and Maddie are both girls who care for you a lot. Trying to make Addie jealous was juvenile and unfair while leading Maddie on for this long is cruel. You need to make up your mind and stop only thinking of yourself," Remus replied more sternly.

He was always the voice of reason in their little group.

Sirius sighed again.

"Yea, I guess you are right," he said resignedly.

Remus offered his hand to his friend to help him off the ground. The two boys then returned to the castle, both with a sense of satisfaction. Remus was thankful that Sirius had finally come to his senses and Sirius felt clearer about what he wanted than he had at New Year's. Things may actually start to turn around.

XXX

Sirius walked into the Great Hall rather quickly the next morning and spotted the individual he was looking for. His unruly, black hair always stuck out from the Gryffindor table, and Sirius had never been so relieved for the untidy beacon.

"James, I need your help for a moment," Sirius muttered hastily, forgetting any greeting for his best friend.

Sirius heard a scoff, but it hadn't come from James. Sirius somehow hadn't noticed that Addie was sitting beside her brother, mostly because she had her nose stuck in the Daily Prophet. He frowned. She was probably looking for anything regarding her parents. James and Sirius were both aware this was the reason Adeline was always grabbing Fern's copy every morning when she was finished, but never mentioned it to her since they felt it would only worsen her anxiety. Plus, they selfishly new that Addie would tell them if she ever did find anything.

"What is it mate? I just loaded everything onto my plate," James whined before he turned to see Sirius' expression.

"Oh, right," he said before he obligingly started to get up.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sirius heard before he surprisingly looked down to see Addie looking right at him.

This was the first time in twelve days that Addie had said a word to him. Sirius was also aware that the rest of the fourth years who had been talking amongst themselves also went quiet. Everyone seemed just as shocked as he was.

"Something like that," Sirius said, unsure of what was going on.

He couldn't take his eyes off of hers, he was afraid he would break whatever was going on and Addie would return to ignoring him.

"Well I think it's about time someone told you that Maddie is absolutely horrible. None of us can even fathom why you are still dating her and if we took a vote right now, it would be unanimous," Addie added pointedly.

Sirius was trying to stifle his own smile. Maybe, somehow, his plan had worked after all.

"Here, here!" James added enthusiastically, probably more so than was acceptable with regards to your mate's girlfriend.

Sirius decided then to sit down on the other side of James and discuss what he had come to say, in front of everyone else. He hadn't noticed before, that aside from Addie's apparent annoyance and James' loathing of Maddie, it seemed the others also had a pretty strong opinion on the matter.

"Well, I'm actually trying to figure out what to do about my current situation," Sirius said delicately.

"Break-up with her!" James said still a little too eagerly.

"Well, there's the thing. I did break up with her," Sirius continued.

He heard Max and even Blythe surprisingly, give a whoop from the other end of their group.

"So, what's the problem?" Addie asked skeptically.

Sirius was caught off guard again. Addie was looking expectantly towards him, still with a hint of anger in her expression. Her silence had been deafening over the past week and a half and now he didn't know how to act.

"I think she just chose to ignore the fact that I ended it last night," Sirius explained.

He saw the confused gazes of the others, but before he could continue, he heard a voice that threatened to send him running back up to the common room.

"Siri!" the voice yelled, obviously approaching his location.

This had been the reason Sirius had wanted to pull James into private, he had been dodging Maddie all morning. But, Addie had given him a reason to stay.

" _Siri!"_ the voice yelled, now more desperately for his attention.

Sirius knew Maddie Baker was not used to being ignored, by anyone.

He also knew he would have to turn around since she was probably only 50 feet from his seat.

But, before he could, he heard Addie expel a gruff sigh before standing up and walking behind James to stand right beside him. Without a word she took both of her hands and grabbed onto his face to turn him towards her. Her eyes looked as if she was feeling turmoil and something else Sirius couldn't decipher.

"Siri?" he heard Maddie ask in confusion before he saw Addie's expression transform into determination.

She pulled his face upwards and swiftly bent down and planted her soft lips onto his. It took a few seconds for Sirius to recover but he didn't want to waste the moment. His chest felt the lightest it had ever been, more so than New Year's Eve. Adeline Potter was kissing him, forming her firm lips over his and spreading her warmth throughout his body. She was so close, he inhaled deeply through his nose and smelled her fresh scent, peppermint and rose petals. He was also sure he could smell traces from her birch broomstick, imprinted on her skin from hundreds of hours of practice. Too soon, she was pulling away from him and he almost leaned forward to bring her back.

"What the hell, Potter?" Maddie asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Oh, I thought it was you who said I had all of the boys looking at me?" Addie asked in a provoking voice.

Maddie looked taken aback, not used to people talking back to her.

"Siri?" Maddie asked in her whiny tone, obviously choosing to ignore Addie's bait.

"Maddie, you know I broke up with you. You can't just choose to ignore that," Sirius said simply, somehow finding his voice after Addie's kiss.

Maddie's face was fuming red by this point and everyone was expecting her to explode.

"Sirius Black, you are a foul git who isn't worth my time," Maddie scoffed before whipping around and storming off towards the Ravenclaw table.

Peter was laughing hysterically, and Sirius was surprised to hear him since he hadn't seen him and Remus arrive during the confrontation.

The others joined in and Sirius was relieved to that it was finally over; he was finally rid of her. Sirius also saw that Addie had returned to her seat beside James, who was also very red in the face.

"What the hell was that?" James fumed.

Sirius could see Addie roll her eyes and he had to stifle his own laugh.

"James, I did it so we're even. He kissed me when I didn't want him to so now I am just returning the favour. Plus, I saved all of us from that horrible banshee of a girl," Addie answered James with no room for objection.

Addie was one of the few people who could contain James' outbursts.

But, Sirius still watched him nervously, waiting to see if he had gotten away with kissing his sister.

James sighed heavily after a few moments. "I guess you're right. But that was the last time!"

Addie rolled her eyes but bent down and kissed her brother on the forehead, almost like she was the older sibling.

"Of course, brother," she said before collecting her things and standing up to leave.

"Can I walk you to class?" Sirius asked before Addie could walk by.

He also ignored James' scowl as he waited for Addie to reply.

"Sure," she said simply.

He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

They fell into stride beside one another as they headed for the Charms hallway. Even though the fifth years had Care of Magical Creatures, Sirius didn't want to waste the opportunity to talk with Addie.

"I'm still angry with you," she started once they were out of the Great Hall.

It was always like Addie to get right to the point and take the upper hand.

"I deserve that," Sirius answered honestly.

Addie turned her expression towards him and he knew she was trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"And I kissed you for everyone else's benefit, so we will never have to see that ogre again," Addie continued.

Sirius couldn't help but smiling at all the creative names Addie had apparently come up with. But, he was disappointed to hear her explanation of the kiss, even if he wasn't surprised.

"So, what can I do to make it up to you?" Sirius asked earnestly.

He desperately wanted things to go back to normal.

Adeline stopped and turned to face him directly.

"This is your one do-over," she said evenly.

"You fucked up Sirius, very badly. If Snape had been hurt, the consequences would have been catastrophic, not to mention the position you put Remus in," she continued sternly.

He waited for her to continue but she just looked at him, waiting for his response.

"Wait, you're forgiving me?" Sirius asked unabashedly.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. But if anything like this ever happens again, I will no longer talk to you. I will walk out of your life and never reconsider," she said with an air of finality.

It was obvious she had given this a lot of thought.

Sirius didn't feel like he deserved this chance, but knew he was too selfish when it came to Addie. He needed her back.

"I solemnly swear," he replied in a whispered voice.

She looked evenly at him again before breaking her reserve and smiling back at him.

"You are really a foul git," she said through her smile.

"I am a Black," he replied, both jokingly and serious.

"No, you're just Sirius."

They continued towards the Charms hall, unaware of their sneaking audience.

"You know, it wasn't Maddie that was the girl who would come in between James and Sirius," Blythe said to Remus who was walking beside her.

He only looked down at her and smiled knowingly before turning to look at James who looked just as conflicted as expected.

The next few years were going to be very long.


	11. One Final Day

Addie woke up with a start. She knew she had been dreaming and it didn't take very long to remember what it had been about. The memory was etched into her mind, even though it had happened two years ago. She had remembered chasing James around the house, laughing hysterically as he tried to get his letter for Lily Evans to Artemis before she could snatch it from him. Luckily for James, she had heard an urgent sounding knock at the door which had interrupted her focus long enough for James to get away. James had taken the moment to leap towards the backdoor to find their owl while Addie had begrudgingly gone to the front. Their parents were hardly ever home by that point, something that remained unchanged today, so she was the only one to go to the door.

The banging intensified as she approached the door, which probably should have deterred her from answering, but she somehow knew nothing posed a threat to her on the other side.

After the third, desperate sounding knock, she opened the door to see a sopping wet, black-haired boy with a packed trunk at their doorstep, standing in the pouring rain. That was the day Sirius Black had come to live with them.

"Addie, wake-up!" I was interrupted by a pounding racket at my door.

That must have been what woke me up; and made me remember.

"Sod off!" I replied, throwing a pillow at my door in an effort to make Sirius go away.

He and James still knew they were never allowed to enter my room without invitation. And then only when the sun was visible, as per my father's regulations.

"It's my last year Addie, I don't want to miss a second," he replied gleefully.

I could hear the smirk on his face through the door.

 _"That was right. This was James and Sirius' last year at Hogwarts,"_ I thought, feeling a surge of gloom rise through my stomach.

I knew it wasn't common for siblings to be as close as James and me, but it had always been that way. I remember when James had gone off to Hogwarts a year before me. We had even written letters to professor Dumbledore to request that I get moved up a year, but obviously that had never happened. Instead, James had written to me every single day without fail. Probably the most dedicated he had ever been towards anything in his life, except maybe quidditch… and Lily Evans.

"Alright, I'm up," I said, obligingly making my way out of bed.

I found a t-shirt and track pants piled on the floor and threw them on before opening the door.

A little surprisingly, Sirius was still there. He was casually leaning against the doorframe, dressed in a fitted white shirt and dark denims. I would be lying if I said I hadn't noticed how fit Sirius had gotten in the past few months. Of course, he had always been muscular, but he looked more masculine now… more mature.

I shook my head and heeded off the light flush I could feel forming across my face. Sirius was my mate, one of the best. Plus, I had Adrian in my life, sort of. I didn't really know what to classify the casual snogging, pen pal relationship I seemed to have with the Hufflepuff beater Adrian Castleman. We had obviously met on the pitch but had gotten closer at the Slugclub Christmas party last year when Lily Evans had dared me to go up to him. Lily and I were also very close now since I joined the infamous Slugclub last year. This was much to the desperate annoyance of James who obsessively pestered me about her. Unbeknownst to him, I had been talking him up a bit.

"You gonna miss me?" Sirius asked me with a sly smile, giving me an excuse to pull my gaze up towards his face.

"What?" I asked dumbfoundedly.

"Next year, when I'm in training and I leave you to your own devices," he said more provokingly.

"Oh, yea," I said, trying for sarcasm.

It was sometimes hard to hide the fact that I was extremely anxious about them going off to auror training in the middle of the war and leaving me without half of my friends to see everyday.

"Adeline are you up darling?" I heard my mother's voice ringing out from down the hallway.

"Yes mum," I answered promptly.

"We need to get going. I'll give you money for the trolley since you slept through breakfast. Bring your trunk down. James is already pacing in the yard," I could hear the amusement in my mother's voice about my brother's antics.

I think she was also sad at the realization that this was James' final year. It meant her children were growing up and would be leaving soon to join the war efforts.

"I'll get it," Sirius said obligingly before I could protest.

"Any chance to go into my room," I said provokingly.

"Of course," Sirius replied a little too promptly.

Despite my room being a mess, all of the things I wanted to bring were already packed in my trunk.

Sirius and I walked towards the front door in silence. It had ended up being a good thing for everyone when Sirius had moved in two summers ago. Sirius had disowned himself from his family whereas we had gained a much-needed member in ours. Since mum and dad were hardly ever around, it was nicer to have three people walking the halls of the large manor instead of two. This also meant that I did not have to entertain James for every second of the day.

XXX

We arrived at King's Cross with seven minutes to spare. This was definitely one of our better arrivals since we actually had time to hug our parents good-bye. I could see the watery gaze on my mother's face before she looked up to hug James. He had also grown this summer and was now almost as tall as our dad.

"Be good Adeline," my father said in his authoritative voice.

"Of course, dad," I replied, knowing he was only half serious and meant more to keep James and Sirius in check.

"I'm just glad those pure-blood whack-jobs are out of your school now," dad whispered in my ear while we hugged.

"But now you have to deal with them," I replied cautiously.

It was not comforting to know Bellatrix and Narcissa Black along with their espoused lap-dogs as well as their other raving friends were now under the command of Voldemort himself and were now known to be doing his bidding.

"I will always rather it this way than have you and James in the line of fire," he continued matter-of-factly.

I hugged my father even harder before finally letting go.

"Have a good year Addie," he said at last before waving me off towards the train.

My father hardly ever called me Addie.

XXX

"Anything from the trolley?" we heard the witch call out from the hallway once the train was under way.

I started digging in my pockets for the handful of galleons my mother had pressed into my hand at the platform.

"I have a brilliant idea!" Sirius said, dawning a devilish grin.

He pulled out his own pocketful of galleons which almost looked like it doubled mine.

"Alright you lot, pull out what you've got," Sirius went on, somehow widening his grin.

"What's the plan Black?" Blythe asked, despite already forking over her money into his outstretched hand.

"I've always wanted to do this!" James said excitedly, the only one who could truly ever read Sirius like a book.

Well the only one except for me.

I'm sure my grin was matching Sirius' as he collected everyone's coins. By the time the trolley witch approached our compartment, Sirius had both of his hands full of galleons which he promptly deposited onto the trolley. In return, we took as many sugary sweets as each of us could get our hands on.

"This is brilliant!" Max exclaimed as we all crammed our faces with pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs, fudge flies and licorice wands.

"It was necessary to start our last year off with a bang!" James exclaimed proudly.

"Yes, well as long as it's not an actual bang or explosion," Elodie added nervously.

Remus chuckled, "Yes, well the day is still young."

"Here, here!" James and Sirius both chimed in.

"What's this about an explosion?" we heard a pointed voice from the door.

"Evans," James said, obviously a little startled, almost losing control of the chocolate frog in his hand.

"You are Head Boy now Potter," she retorted smartly. "Do try and set an example. Plus, we are due in the prefect's carriage."

James' face resembled a beet, but his grin was spreading from both ears.

When the news had come about James getting Head Boy, Sirius and I had howled with laughter. Dad had been convinced it was a mistake, but mum had been glowing with pride.

We all waved James off as Lily literally dragged him away by the arm. Part of me figured he just wanted Lily to hold on to him.

"So, who wants to take the bet that those two finally get together this year?" Max proclaimed once Lily and James were out of earshot.

"There's no way," Blythe countered. "I'll take that bet."

"I'm with Blythe, James has been trying for six years and it's just gotten pathetic," Elodie added.

"Addie?" Sirius asked with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"I don't know, she's different when it's just the two of us. She actually smiles when I talk about him," I replied modestly.

If I was being honest, I was actually quite sure that Lily did have some sort of feelings for James, I just didn't know if his previous history was too stacked against him.

"Well, if we are making bets how about Addie and her beau?" Zelene piped in eagerly.

"Who?" Sirius asked quickly. "Oh, you meant that git Adrian?"

"Addie and Addie," Elodie said in a gross gooey-sounding voice.

"It's just what his stupid friends call him. Plus, we aren't even dating!" I tried to defend myself.

"Well I'll take that bet. They'll be official by Christmas," Max added confidently.

He was always eager to take advantage when something bugged any of us, and he could make it competitive. I would have to say that out of all of us, Max had remained fairly the same as he always was.

Fern was deliberately ignoring us by reading her book and sucking on her lollipop.

"I agree, I do think you and Adrian would be a nice match. Officially I mean," Elodie added.

"Addie could have any guy she wanted," Peter added, a little too excitedly.

I avoided eye contact with him at all cost by turning my head away since he was tucked in the corner beside Remus.

Remus and Blythe however were watching at me with an annoyingly perceptive look.

"I'm too focused on everything to date seriously anyways," I added defiantly.

"O.W.L. year is over Addie, you should let loose a little," Zelene replied.

"I still have quidditch to focus on," I retorted.

"Yea, don't less loose too much," Max added anxiously.

He had nothing to worry about though, nothing was ever going to distract me from quidditch.

"I just don't think Adrian seems like a good match," Remus added observantly.

I gave him an appraised look.

"What makes you say that?" I asked suspiciously.

"James doesn't seem to like him much," he replied simply.

"James won't like anyone Addie goes out with," Sirius said in a voice that sounded like he had something sour in his mouth.

I turned a questioning look towards Sirius, but he just shrugged.

"What about Fern and Wendall? Sirius asked, obviously wanting to change the subject.

Everyone now turned to give him a withering look.

"Are you that big of an idiot?" Blythe asked bluntly.

"What did I say?" Sirius asked unabashedly.

"Wendall and Elodie are dating. They have been for the past year!" I responded in a harsh tone.

A blush formed across Sirius' face before I shoved him in the shoulder.

"You're such a daft idiot," I added before we all fell into another conversation.

Wendall and Elodie were the only ones who had started something after that fateful New Year's Eve during our fourth year. Fern was absolutely not interested in Peter, Blythe only ever thought of Max as a friend, Zelene was still hung up on Remus, although she would never admit it after two years of pining, and then there was me and Sirius. I had remained uninterested in dating and Sirius had went on to date far less-annoying girls than Maddie Baker. Ravenclaw still hadn't won a game against us since I vowed to take my vengeance on her unwanted presence in my life through quidditch.

We arrived at Hogsmeade later in the evening and I followed my friends towards the self-pulling carriages.

"Addie!" I heard a male call out from behind me.

I turned around to see Adrian coming towards me, his longer blond hair falling across his face as he walked. He was only a couple inches taller than me, probably 5'10, but was fairly built from his time as a beater. I couldn't help but smile at his appearance, despite myself insisting this was not a thing.

"It's good to see you," he said as he came to stand right in front of me.

Far closer than any of my other friends usually did.

"Want to share a carriage?" he asked.

I could see some of the other Hufflepuff quidditch team standing idly by with matching smiles on their faces. I had to admit, Adrian's friends were much more inviting and friendlier than mine were at the start. Elodie was the only one who had even formally met Adrian's friends. Max had forbidden Wendall and the rest of them saw the other quidditch players as the enemy.

"Sure," I responded with a smile as Adrian took my hand.

My initial response was to pull away, but the warmth emanating from his touch convinced me against it.

"How was your summer Addie?" a boy by the name of Liam McDougal asked me once we were all settled in a carriage.

I knew he was the other beater for the Hufflepuff team, and was also Adrian's best friend.

"Alright, how was yours?" I answered thoughtfully.

"Yea, it was alright. We didn't travel like we normally do though," he said rather sadly.

I knew this meant his family was on alert since the Death Eater count had severely increased in the last year and the attacks on muggle-borns were becoming more and more common.

"Yea, my mum and dad were hardly ever home it seemed. It's getting very busy for them at the auror office," I replied forlornly, still trying to hide the anxiety I felt.

I felt Adrian squeeze my hand that he was still holding. It was a reassuring gesture but didn't stifle the bubbling anxiety that I felt was more and more common now.

"We're here!" Adrian announced more cheerily than was probably necessary.

"I'll catch up with you later Adrian," I said once we had reached the Great Hall.

As great a guy as Adrian was, neither one of us ever wanted to sit at the other house's table.

The feast was just as magnificent as ever, but I struggled to eat everything since we had bought out the sweet's trolley on the train. Sirius and James however did not share this problem.

"How are you eating all of that?" I asked with mild disgust.

"This is our last Welcoming Feast Ly, we have to savour it!" Sirius answered exuberantly.

My smile fell, but I quickly recovered.

"Right," I replied.

Thankfully I was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore with his speech and didn't have to respond to Sirius' skeptical expression.

Once the dishes had been cleared, Lily came over to collect James, so they could usher the firsties up to the common room.

I was walking in between Zelene and Fern while the others followed behind.

Remus was walking beside Blythe, who by happenstance had both fallen back behind the others.

"I have another bet," Blythe said quietly which perked Remus' interest.

"And what would that be?" he responded knowingly but asked anyway.

"I bet Sirius asks Addie out by the end of the year," Blythe replied confidently.

"Ah, well I hesitate to take that bet, but I do have a stipulation," Remus continued delicately.

"Which is?"

"The situation is entirely up to Adeline. We both know what Sirius wants, even if he doesn't necessarily know all the time. But Addie surely hasn't figured it out yet. I wonder if a year will be enough," Remus said more skeptically.

"Well, a year is all they have," Blythe finished with a sad expression towards her best friend. "She better figure it out."


	12. Loyalty

I always loved the morning before a quidditch game. The familiar jitters in my stomach never bothered me. They only ever reminded me of the determination I had to win.

I got up that morning just like any other. Took a shower and gave minimal effort for my hair and make-up. Honestly, I didn't wear make-up, especially on game days. Plus, I had thankfully been blessed with my mother's hair and didn't have the dishevelled problem like James, who had inherited my father's unruly mane.

"Get up Turner!" I yelled once I had re-entered the dormitory all dressed in my uniform.

Blythe grumbled at me and gave me a rather unpleasant hand gesture but got up without further hesitation. We all took game day very seriously.

The boys were all waiting for us once we entered the common room. Although the match was to be against Hufflepuff, we still maintained our protective measures by travelling as a group. Often quidditch games, especially against Slytherin, incited competitive backlash amongst the school. Last year, Riley had gotten hexed with the jelly-legs jinx on his way to a game. We had almost had to forfeit before he hopped his way all the way to the field. After that, we had mandated all players not to wander alone on game days.

So, once we were all assembled, we went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. We also found that our assembled entrance incited excitement and praise from our house and loyal fans. It was pretty nice for the ego of the team.

Today was no different when we entered the Great Hall. The Gryffindor's broke out into boisterous applause while the other houses stopped and stared at us. The Slytherin's of course were glaring, but at least half of the Ravenclaw's looked at us with excitement.

I also chanced a sideways look at the Hufflepuff table like I did every morning. It was easy enough to find Adrian, sitting with the rest of his team, looking rather sullen. It irritated me how quidditch was somewhat of a problem between the two of us. I had been playing for two more years than Adrian and had since gathered a rather strong reputation. The Hufflepuff had a fit enough team, but it was quite obvious Gryffindor was more refined. Indigo had since graduated, and her spot was filled by Riley's best friend Francine (Frankie) Donaldson. Frankie had adapted as well as Riley had, and we were yet to lose a match in the last two years. James was also still team captain, a mantel that had surprisingly matured him in some respects. I thought it would have gone to his head, but he was very focused on constructing new strategies and maintaining our record.

"Badger boy doesn't look too confident that he's going to beat his girlfriend" Sirius said as he noticed where I was glancing.

"Lay off Sirius," I retorted half-heartedly.

I was used to having to defend my Hufflepuff boyfriend. My friends were nothing but loyal to our house and dating a quidditch rival had its challenges for cohesion. But today was game day, and I didn't have the energy to defend him.

"Everyone remembers the drill?" James asked, re-focusing the team so we would be prepared when we walked out in a few minutes.

"Potter, we've been over this enough times that I rehearse it in my dreams," Max answered more seriously than I would have expected.

"Good, that was the idea," James responded authoritatively.

I nodded along with the team while I ate two helpings of porridge. I knew a lot of my other teammates never had much of an appetite right before playing, but I never seemed to have that problem. I always wanted to make sure I had enough sustenance to keep up my energy.

"Ready to kick some boyfriend ass, Addie?" Sirius asked once James announced we should head to the pitch.

I tried to stifle the smirk I felt stretch across my face. My competitiveness was taking over my usual reserve.

"Hell yea," I answered more enthusiastically than was probably acceptable.

We all started to follow James out of the Great Hall and ended up bumping into the Hufflepuff team as we reached the exit. They had obviously seen us get up and followed suit since I had known they'd been sitting only moments ago.

"Potter," the Hufflepuff captain greeted James with a nod.

"Jacoby," James retorted shortly.

The two captains then proceeded to lead their teams out of the Great Hall. This meant that the teams were walking beside one another which was all-in-all a terrible idea.

Max was the first one to start.

"Looks like the badgers have come out of their burrows to try and fly."

"Yea, do badgers even know how to fly? I haven't seen any proof yet," Sirius added, obviously looking to provoke the other team.

"At least Hufflepuffs can look past our egos," Adrian retorted quickly.

"Gryffindors just know what glory feels like. Don't remember the last time any of you won," Sirius replied handily.

I could hear the edge in both of their voices.

"Black, enough," James said without turning around.

I knew James was trying to remain stoic and authoritative as a captain.

"But it's just too easy to take the bludgers away from them," Sirius replied provokingly to James who was still facing forward.

I also knew this was a direct taunt at Adrian since he was a beater for the Hufflepuff team.

"Quiet Sirius!" I said before things turned into a brawl.

I had been watching both Adrian and Sirius out of the corner of my eye and I could see the goading look on Sirius' face. In response I could also see Adrian's riled up expression which looked like he was gearing up to pounce. A fight before a game would most definitely lead to a forfeit.

Sirius looked at me for a moment while I met his gaze with a hardened expression. I was leaving no room for discussion.

Sirius' expression was oddly unreadable, but he turned to face forward without another word.

The rest of the Gryffindors started to walk past the other team still with their smug looks. Characteristically, Gryffindor's did live up to their proud and competitive nature.

"Looks like the Gryffindor princess has spoken," I heard one of the Hufflepuff team players say before we were out of ear shot.

I stopped dead in my tracks which caused everyone else to pause. I turned around with my steely expression before throwing them a smug look.

"Damn right I have. My team respects me, and I respect them. We aren't throwing the game for some petty quips. If you have anything better to throw my way, then let me see you score a goal," I said proudly before promptly turning around and proceeding with my team to the field.

I didn't hear so much as a snicker as we walked away.

XXX

"Players take your positions," the quidditch coach ordered as he drew his whistle to his lips.

I was already mounted on my broom, ready to zip up to the goal rings. I had looked pointedly at each one of the Hufflepuff players as they entered the pitch but none of them were yet to look me in the eye; not even Adrian.

I had brushed off my slight annoyance with him and shut everything else out of my mind. The game was all that mattered right now. At the sound of the whistle I shot up to my post within a few seconds. I watched as all the other players got into position and the balls were released. James took off once the golden snitch was released which immediately disappeared from sight.

Blythe and Sirius were also first to get to both of the bludgers and immediately aimed them at the Hufflepuff chasers going after the quaffle. Frankie had first caught it and was successfully carrying it towards the opposite goal. Jacoby, the Hufflepuff captain, was the keeper for their team. He made the first save but Max easily caught the toss back and scored the first goal. Gryffindor actually scored the first four goals before the Hufflepuffs even brought the quaffle to my end of the pitch. I readied myself as I watched one of their chasers approach. I anticipated his move before he even thought about it. I feigned confusion as he approached but swerved to the left just as I saw him raise his arm to throw. I easily made the save.

The game proceeded like this as the score slowly rose to 70-0. I could see the Hufflepuffs getting frustrated. Blythe and Sirius had made a sort of boundary line where they would send bludgers across at anyone who crossed. This successfully kept the Hufflepuff chasers away from my goal and gave our own chasers a smaller field to keep the quaffle and score. This was the plan James had been talking about in the Great Hall.

I was now watching Adrian intently since I saw the frustration coming off him in waves. I knew he was probably as competitive as I was, but he had a poor way of showing it. I also saw he was trying to target Sirius, but our players wouldn't let him get anywhere close.

My concentration was broken slightly when I saw a bludger aimed at Blythe's back. When it made contact, I flinched as she crumpled in and broke formation. This gave Adrian his in. He had been anticipating this play which meant it was pre-planned. He circled Sirius from the back and aimed his beater's bad at Sirius' head. I held my breath as I stared at Adrian with fury. Out of now where though, James had also been watching the play and swung around to catch the bat inches away from Sirius' head. This prompted Sirius to turn around and James to call a time out.

I went to make my way to join the others, but James held his hand up to indicate he wanted me to stay at my post. James and Sirius had a deep discussion when they were joined by Blythe. I figured James was now impatient with the Hufflepuff's attitude and wanted to end the game quickly.

When the whistle blew again, I noticed Blythe and Sirius shorten the line they had previously made which further prevented Hufflepuff from gaining any ground. Our defense was ruthless as we waited for James to see the snitch. Since I didn't have a lot of plays to save, I looked around for it as well. The sun was shining bright which helped when I saw a tiny flash of light. I think James saw it at the same time I did which caused him to zoom across the pitch before the other seeker even noticed James' departure. I watched as James quickly caught up with the snitch and easily secured it in his hand. Thankfully, this game had ended.

XXX

Adrian had been surly for the next week which practically brought me to the point of breaking up with him. I had also reamed him out for his attack on Sirius since I thought it to be tactless and cowardly. Surprisingly, it was Lily Evans who had convinced me to stay with him even though all my friends, even Elodie, were against the relationship. This was because the Slug Club opening gala was coming up and Lily figured Adrian would make himself up by being my date. It seemed like a weak reason, but I also knew my expertise in most things did not extend to dating. Lily honestly seemed like one of the only people I knew who had some knowledge on the subject.

And sure enough, at the end of the week Adrian asked me with a romantic gesture of flowers and cholates to be his gala date. I had been uncomfortable with the gifts, but I just played it off as a character flaw, I wasn't typically the romantic type. Blythe had outright laughed but Elodie, Zelene and even Fern had chastised her and thought it was nice of Adrian to show his guilt with presents. I just shrugged the whole thing off.

"You look so beautiful!" Elodie gushed as she zipped up the back of my dress. My mother had sent me with a royal purple coloured dress that shimmered in the light. It had a scoop neck and a small slit that ran up the floor length dress to the top of my calf. It was stunning, but also made me feel slightly uncomfortable since I wasn't used to wearing such finery. I had always been thankful that our parents had separated themselves from the wizarding high society which meant I didn't have to dress in fine clothes all the time.

"You clean up nice Potter," Blythe added as she looked up from the book she was reading on her bed.

I took her comment as high praise since I knew she was just as comfortable with this type of thing as I was.

Elodie, Zel and Fern escorted me down once Elodie and Zel were done with my make-up, which was silver eyeshadow with dark lips.

When I entered the common room, I heard a wolf whistle and automatically took off my small heeled shoe to throw at Max.

"No upsetting Addie! It took me an hour to put her together," Elodie warned severly.

I saw Wendall approach her with a warm smile on his face.

"You really pulled it off El," he said softly as I stepped forward to get out of ear shot.

"You do clean up nice Ly," Sirius came up and stood in front of me.

I realized he was standing very close, but I just looked up and smiled. His attention actually didn't bother me like everyone else's. I guess I was just used to his constant presence in my life.

"Thanks," I replied as I felt my cheeks turn warm.

I turned my face in embarrassment and noticed James having a hushed yet tense conversation with Max. He was probably telling him off for the whistle.

Thankfully, he came over a moment later with my shoe in his hand which I took and re-strapped it back on.

"Ooh Addie! Your dress is beautiful!" I heard Lily say as she presumably came from the staircase.

"I turned around to see Lily in a strappy red dress that went down to her knees and fanned out at her waist. It was also shimmery and looked absolutely gorgeous on her. Obviously, this immediately took James' attention who looked dumbfounded with his jaw dropped.

Lily came to stand by my side and looped her arm through mine.

"Sirius," she greeted while I noticed he had stepped back.

"Hey Evans," he replied in a friendly manner.

The two of them had definitely become friendlier as Lily's annoyance for my brother had lessened and Lily had started talking to the people in our group.

"James," Lily said while flicking her hair off her shoulder.

"Lily," he replied softly.

I felt uncomfortable as Lily continued to hold onto my arm but shared what seemed like an intimate moment with my brother.

"Ready?" I asked, thankfully breaking their gazes.

"Yup!" she said happily before escorting me out of the common room.

"Do you think James liked my dress?" she asked surprisingly right after the portrait had shut behind us.

"Lily, he was drooling," I said matter-of-factly.

I saw the smug look cross Lily's face which caused me to roll my eyes.

"Lily, can I be honest," I said more seriously.

"Of course, Addie," she said kindly.

"If you repeat this, I will have to kill you," I said with a steely gaze which usually caused people to flinch.

Lily just continued to look at me kindly.

"James is absolutely stupid in love with you. He has been trying to get your attention for years and I understand a lot of his efforts were juvenile and he went about it the wrong way. But I think he has really matured in the last year in trying to be good by you and just wait for you to figure out how you feel. But you have to know that he still loves you and will probably always love you until you either go out with him or break his heart. And you're lucky I like you so much because I would otherwise destroy you if you decide to break his heart," I said more sternly than I probably should have.

This didn't seem to phase Lily who broke into a wide smile and blushed violently.

"I've sort of been waiting for you to tell me something like this," Lily said quietly.

"Why?" I asked confusedly.

"Well, you're right. James has been acting differently this year which has put him in a very different perspective. But I was worried that he had lost interest and I was hoping you would either confirm or deny my suspicions," she explained.

I looked at her with an exasperated look.

"You two are freaking perfect for each other. Both too stuck in your own head to see what is right in front of you!"

"I suppose that's true," Lily replied timidly.

By this time, we had arrived down in the dungeons and I could see Adrian standing at the door.

"Go get him," Lily whispered and pushed me forward.

"Hey Addie," he greeted once I was within earshot. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I said a little awkwardly.

He took my hand and lead me inside where most of the Slug Club were already assembled.

"Want a drink?" Adrian asked politely.

"Sure," I replied.

He disappeared to get us some punch.

"There you are Miss. Potter," I heard Professor Slughorn say as he approached.

"Good evening professor," I greeted politely.

I knew Slughorn obviously played favourites and I was the only one from my inner circle who had gotten an invite last year. But I did really enjoy the company of the potions master and relished in the prestige that was associated with his Slug Club.

"That was an impressive game last week. 20 minutes and zero goals. Plus, I just had the privilege of reading your first essay of the semester and I have to say, I am impressed as always," he said as I tried to hide my smug look.

"I appreciate that professor, very much. I trained all throughout the summer and I already had an interest in looking into the medical uses of potions in acute circumstances. There is so much potential to discover potions that could be taken during duels to ensure more time to make it to the hospital if one becomes injured," I explained.

"Just marvellous. I always know to expect innovative thinking from you Miss. Potter," he said before moving onto another student who had just entered.

"Getting your praise from Slughorn?" Adrian asked as he approached with two cups in his hand.

"We are both in the club Adrian, no need to be jealous," I said while only half-heartedly trying to stifle my annoyance.

Adrian nodded as he sipped his punch and handed me my own.

"Care to dance?" he asked, obviously deciding to change the subject.

I agreed by taking his hand and letting him escort me to the dancefloor in the center of the room.

We spent most of the night dancing and talking with our friends. Lily had stuck close by and I had shared quite a few dances with her as well. Lily and I were now sharing a drink at the edge of the dancefloor.

"You're right Addie," Lily said while watching the dancers.

"About what?" I asked.

"James. I think I'm going to ask him out," she said with another violent blush crossing her face.

I put my free hand on her shoulder.

"I think you deserve him," I said firmly.

She looked up at me.

"I know what that means coming from you," she said with a kind smile.

"Yea, that he's a no-good trouble maker who can't keep his team in check," I heard Adrian say from behind me as he joined us.

"That's my brother you're talking about!"

"So! He started it with what he said before the last game," Adrian retorted.

"James didn't say a thing and you were pettier than any of the rest of them," I replied angrily.

"Sirius was worse. I can't believe you would slate me against them," Adrian continued.

I looked at him with frustration and overall exhaustion. I was tired of this conversation. When we had started talking last year it was fun and the letters we wrote back and forth over the summer were devoid of all this tension that had seemingly spurred at the start of the semester.

"What are you going to choose Addie?" Adrian asked challengingly.

I bowed my head and closed my eyes in quiet reflection. I already knew my answer, there was no question. I just wanted a moment to let things go in my mind.

"There's no choice Adrian, I think you know that. And the fact that you would ask me to choose is the clinch. I'm ending this," I said with as little emotion as I could muster.

I didn't want to be the choice for gossip for having a breakdown or, more probably, going off on a tirade.

Adrian only nodded beforeturning to join his friends who were conveniently just out of ear shot.

"I'm going to go Lily," I said as she just looked at me with concern and quietly accompanied me out of the room.

We remained silent all the way back. When we entered the common room, I tried to make myself as invisible as possible, but this glossy dress made that impossible. Lily rushed over to my friends to probably try and reel in their bombardment of questions while I tried to escape upstairs. However, I wasn't too fast in these shoes and my friends cut my path off instead.

Blythe and the girls all looked concerned. None of us had ever ended anything more serious than a casual fling and I knew I would have to answer their questions and placate their fears later. The boys however had smug grins, except for Remus.

"Addie…" James started in a boastful sort of way.

I'm sure he felt like he had won some sort of argument since he knew I had stood up for him and subsequently ended a relationship because of it.

"Shut it James. I just threw away a decent enough relationship for you and I am not interested in your boastful retorts," I said evenly, glaring into his easy gaze.

His expression immediately fell, and his head tilted towards the floor. I knew he felt bad, but I had already made a life-changing choice for him in the last ten minutes. I needed some time alone.

"Ly, are you okay?" Sirius asked in a surprisingly concerned voice.

I just looked at him for a moment before nodding and deciding to walk around the group. I disappeared up into the dorm and shucked out of the dress before immediately taking a shower. This meant that I couldn't be asked any questions from Zelene or Elodie who no doubt would be overly curious. Thankfully, they must have gotten the message since no one was in the dorm when I re-entered in my pajamas. Taking the moment of peace, I climbed into bed and cast a silencing charm so I could let myself cry out until I fell asleep.


	13. New Year's Kiss

"You're so much like your father Addie," my mother said warmly from beside me.

"How so?" I asked curiously, looking up from my book to meet her gaze.

"He was also the silent and mysterious type. Every girl wanted to see if they could break through his façade and truly get to know him. But he only ever reserved that for his close friends. It's also what makes him such a good auror," my mother explained kindly, but I knew her reminiscing had an ulterior motive.

I looked at my mother and watched as she presumably remembered herself and my father from their school days. She then turned her gaze and I could see the worry behind her eyes. I had never been the most confiding person, and as close as I was to my parents, my mother and I did not have the typical mother-daughter confessional relationship.

"I'm not being mysterious," I muttered, flipping the text book open again in my lap.

"Adeline, you've been acting distant ever since last term," mum tried again, putting her hand on my lap.

"Adrian is just acting like a brat. I mean how can he act like that when there is a war out there?" I asked in an annoyed tone, also trying to subtly keep the focus away from me.

Adrian had not taken me breaking up with him very well. The entire Hufflepuff team even rallied together to give me unsubtle, pointed looks whenever I passed, usually followed by some quiet, snide remark. This eventually abated after about a month, but then Adrian had tried to make a scene at the pre-Christmas function for the Slugclub. Thankfully, Lily came to my aid yet again and told him off before we drew too much attention. This didn't hold a candle to James and Sirius though. I had been fairly unsuccessful in preventing them from hexing him a couple of times in the corridors. They were much sneakier than Adrian was and planned out their retribution. I knew James still felt guilty about the whole thing, but I knew I was better off. Sirius in turn had also been very protective of me, always keeping close to make sure no Hufflepuff had a spurt of tactless bravery and hexed me or anything. This is one of the reasons Sirius had begged for me to bring him as my date to the Slug Club pre-Christmas soiree. The other reason had been to keep a careful eye on James on his official first date with Lily.

"Addie, that is precisely why he is focusing so much on the break-up. He wants a distraction from reality," mum reasoned in a sad tone.

I pondered her reply and unwillingly started to feel sorry for Adrian. Even though he had been acting like a git, maybe it did mean he couldn't handle the reality of the war. Maybe he was using our failed relationship as a scapegoat for his fear.

"Forget him Ly, Adrian is a supremely major git," Sirius exclaimed as he entered the room with James at his heels.

I looked up at the two boys, relieved for the distraction from my mother's attempt to get me to talk about myself. I also noticed that James was running his hand nervously through his hair. He hadn't personally brought up Adrian since the night I ended it, despite all of my friends continually bringing it up.

It had been two months since the initial Slug Club gala, and I had quickly gotten over it. My friends had kept more of a grudge, meaning they almost wanted Slytherin to beat Hufflepuff during their November match. But James kept uncharacteristically quiet about it. Part of me believed this had something to do with Lily, and the fact that her and James became an item that night as well. Apparently, according to Blythe and Elodie, Lily had walked with him through the corridors in an attempt to stop him both from going after Adrian and to convince him he wasn't at fault. It also ended with the two of them snogging in the Charms hallway until Peeves unceremoniously disrupted them in some rude manner. I had covered my ears at this point in the conversation while Elodie and Zelene tried to give me all the small details.

I was truly happy for Lily and my brother and their crazy love story. I mean, I still couldn't believe she said yes after nearly seven years of James' persistence. Initially I had been afraid of James' ego flaring, finally getting the girl of his dreams. However, Lily somehow had the opposite effect. James, although boastful about his new girlfriend, never gave anyone any details about her. He was also a little less arrogant and more mindful of those around him, or at least Lily for a start.

"You look dashing James," mum awed a little provokingly as he took a seat with Sirius in the opposite loveseat.

"Well, I did just pry him away from messing over his hair," Sirius added with a smirk.

"Leave it alone!" James chastised as Sirius went to touch a small piece of James' hair which did look meticulously put in place.

He had tried to abandon his broomstick look where he took his already messy hair and carved it in a way that looked like he was always stepping off the quidditch pitch. This time, it looked like he had taken some of mum's products to straighten it all out and then brushed it off to the side. This look must have honestly taken him hours.

I stifled my laugh, observing James and his nervous habits. He was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt sleeve, fighting his life-long tendency of running his hand through his hair again.

Just then there was the sound of the bell, indicating that someone was at the front door.

"I'll get it!" James leapt off the sofa almost as fast as he glided when he saw the snitch on the field.

"Someone's eager," Sirius smirked, watching his best mate bolt into the front hall.

"I'm a little excited to meet her after all this time," my mother added in an intrigued voice, also standing to follow James out of the room.

I already heard my father's voice at the door. He had honestly probably been waiting out of sight, wanting to beat James to open the door when she arrived.

I shook my head and remained sitting, knowing my parents and brother would eventually lead the guest of honour into the sitting room eventually.

"Do you think Evans knows what she's in for?" Sirius asked with a grin, still looking towards the front entrance even though there was no clear sight line to the door.

"She must have had some sort of clue after knowing James all this time and finally agreeing to go out with him," I replied with a shrug.

"Yea, well you do balance out the Potter image a little, being more discreet than James and all," Sirius replied, turning his gaze towards me with an easy smile.

"Well, I may have forgotten to mention that our parents have also been aware of his infatuation since its inception," I replied deviously, letting a small smile form across my lips.

"Man, if anyone knew better, I would say you are even more devious than James. You're more purposeful, which is just unnerving," Sirius said while continuing to smile at me.

I stared at the boy who had been like a brother to me over these past several years. His constant presence in and around my life was as comfortable as it was with James, but was he really like a brother? I continued to observe Sirius, who confidently held my gaze with an easy smile. I held back any reaction from reaching my face, but felt I no longer had a category to place Sirius in. I felt he was more intimately connected with my life than Peter or even Remus. I shared most of the same things with him that I did with Blythe and felt the most comfortable confiding in him. Plus, I felt much more at ease around him than I ever did with Adrian; Adrian had just been what seemed like a charged moment. It was fun while it lasted with the feeling of something new before it dove out of existence. But why would I ever compare Sirius to Adrian?

"Addie!" I heard my name exclaimed from the door of the sitting room.

I looked up to see an already out-of-sorts Lily with a look of relief across her face when I met her gaze.

"My parents already wear you down?" I asked, standing to give her a hug.

"Of course not," she said almost convincingly.

I laughed, "They're just excited to meet the girl James has gone on about for the last seven years."

A deep blush crossed over Lily's face as my mother let out a nervous chuckle.

"Adeline, we are just pleased to meet James' new girlfriend," my mother reassured as she started to pour the tea my father brought into the room.

"Yes, don't make the poor girl nervous Adeline," my father added, patting me on the shoulder.

I looked over to see James and the visible sweat on his forehead.

Sirius, thoroughly enjoying himself, let out a hearty laugh before putting his arm over Lily's shoulder.

"This is going to be a great evening!" Sirius added, causing Lily to laugh as well.

The rest of the evening was rather pleasant as we shared stories, mostly at the expense of my older brother.

"Wait, so James almost burned the house down?!" Lily asked before looking over at James disapprovingly.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that, I had just gotten my want and wanted to try it out!" James retorted, trying to preserve his pride.

I let out a laugh before James' darkened look turned on me.

"Hey, it's not like Addie is so innocent. You guys make it out to sound like I'm the only one who ever get's into trouble," James countered.

My father scoffed. "James, my study is full of letters from your school to suggest otherwise. We haven't nearly gotten as much feedback on Adeline's so called troublemaking."

James crossed his arms and Lily surprisingly looked sympathetically towards him. I smiled looking at the two despite James' scowl since it really did see, Lily's perception of my brother had changed. My gaze shifted towards Sirius who was giving me a look that almost seemed like he was proud of me and my lack of letters home from Hogwarts. It seemed Sirius was always praising me for my more thought out methods.

Garrick eventually came and cleared the dishes which prompted us to move into the sitting room for after dinner tea. I knew my parents were enamoured with Lily which meant she would be easily accepted into the family just as Sirius had been. When the evening was over we all waved at Lily who was standing in the driveway before she turned on her heel and clicked out of sight as she apparated back to her place.

XX

Tonight was New Year's Eve and this year my parents had decided to host a party at the mansion. James and I had also been allowed to invite our friends from school which made James eager to have Lily over again.

I was sitting in my room as I fixed my evening dress at the insistence of my mother. I chose to wear the same dress I had at Slughorn's party where I had also dumped Adrian. I really liked the purple scoop-necked dress and didn't want that idiot being the reason I never wore it again. Even from my bedroom I could already hear my parents out in the kitchen entertaining the first few people to arrive. Moments later when I heard another sound of the doorbell it prompted me to go see who it was. I knew my friends were supposed to arrive soon and didn't want to miss the opportunity to greet them. Walking down the hall I already knew who it was since I could hear James talking with them.

"Happy New Year's Addie!" Elodie called out as she came over to hug me.

"Happy New Year!" I replied as I embraced her before moving on to greet Wendall who seemingly accompanied her here.

"Are the others here yet?" Elodie asked.

I shook my head and led the two of them into the sitting room where I offered them some punch from the bowl my mother had set up.

"Addie!" I heard my name being called out before I looked up to see Zelene and Fern entering the room together a few minutes later.

After fixing them with their own refreshments we sat on the couch waiting for Blythe and Max to show up who would be the last to arrive.

"So, how was everyone's holiday?" Fern asked everyone.

"It looks like your brother is really enjoying the holiday spirit," Elodie remarked as we all turned to look at him standing rather closely with Lily. The rest of the Marauders were also here, standing off to the side with Sirius as they watched James as well.

I caught Sirius' gaze which prompted him to roll his eyes. I could tell by his expression that he already thought James was acting obnoxious. I smiled back in agreeance before turning back to my friends. While we waited we caught up on everyone's holidays until Blythe and Max arrived.

"Great, we're finally all here!" Elodie exclaimed excitedly as she unfurled her bag and took out a small vial.

"What is it El?" Zelene asked looking intrigued.

"Truth serum," she replied excitedly.

"Wow! Not a lot of wizards know how to make it properly, that's so cool!" Fern said looking rather impressed.

"How are you going to use it?" Max asked as we all passed the vial around to examine more closely.

"With all of you of course!" she replied cheerfully. "My aunt is a master potions maker and gave me something really special since I turned seventeen this year!"

"We should play truth or dare!" Blythe shouted eagerly.

Everyone nodded at the idea.

"Are you sure this is what you want to use your Christmas present for?" I asked, thinking it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Elodie to have this potion.

"What, are you scared we'll learn all your secrets?" Max asked provokingly.

I shoved his shoulder before lifting my glass of punch for Elodie to pour a few drops into it.

"Elodie, you go first!" Fern exclaimed.

"Alright, Zelene. Truth or dare?" Elodie asked.

Zelene took a sip from her cup before answering. "Truth."

"Are you ever going to tell Remus how you really feel?" Elodie asked with a grin.

Zelene blanched, probably regretting having Elodie to go first.

"No," Zelene answered, looking rather small compared to her usual larger than life personality.

"You should Zel, this is the only life we get, why not take a chance?" Elodie asked, not wanting Zelene to doubt herself.

"I know there's something he's not telling us and until we know what that is I don't think I have a chance at dating him," Zelene admitted.

My eyes widened at her but she thankfully didn't notice since Zelene was still looking at Elodie. I hadn't realised that Zelene at least caught on to the fact that Remus was a werewolf without truly knowing the secret itself.

"Alright Zel, you get to choose next," Elodie said.

"Potter, it's your turn!" Zelene replied more enthusiastically as she rallied back to her usual self.

"Dare," I replied instantly, not really ever being the secret telling sort of person. And my track record for pranks and mischief made me confident in my abilities to carry out any dare.

Zelene smirked at me as if she was expecting my answer but still had a plan. "I dare you to kiss the most attractive person in the room."

I kept my face neutral but my insides had erupted into butterflies.

"Ah Merlin don't make it awkward Zel! I don't want to kiss Addie," Max said as he turned to face me.

"You idiot, she is not going to kiss you!" Blythe replied before smacking him over shoulder.

I continued to stare at Zelene and could feel my mouth forming his name on my lips.

"Don't tell us who it is, you just have to go kiss them," Zelene said with a challenging look.

I scrunched my eyebrows before resolutely standing up and headed away from my group of friends. Since Zelene had told me not to say his name out loud it seemed like my feet were carrying me towards him without my permission.

"How was it not me?!" Max exclaimed. "OW!"

I figured Blythe must have hit him again. I could also feel their intent stares as I approached him. He was still standing where he had been when I met his gaze a few minutes earlier. He was currently talking with Remus and Peter and I felt the dread that this truth serum wasn't going to let me ask him to at least step away from them before I kissed him.

"Hey Ly," Sirius said smoothly as he paused his conversation to greet me. "What's going on?"

He looked a little confused as I continued to walk towards him until we were practically toe-to-toe.

"What the—" Sirius started but stopped as I quickly brought both of my hands to his cheeks and pulled him down until his lips met mine.

I felt my cheeks flush with heat as the embarrassment flooded through my mind. Not only was this not the first kiss I had shared with Sirius but admittedly because of the truth serum, I didn't want it to stop. Sirius' lips were still for only a moment before his initial shock wore off and he returned the kiss with his own brand of wanting. I could feel as his lips traced over mine and filled me with warmth that suggested that maybe this kiss wasn't completely unwanted on his end.

When my sense of pride returned a few moments later I pushed myself away. However, my friends made sure that I wasn't let off the hook so easily as they audaciously applauded me.

"What's going on with you guys?" James asked, taking his gaze away from Lily at the sound of my friends acting so boisterous.

James followed their gazes to see that I was still only standing a step away from Sirius. Sirius on the other hand was looking at me with a mixture of emotions swimming over his face.

"Sirius, care explaining this?" James asked, now sounding irritated.

Instead of replying to James though, Sirius grabbed onto my arm and pulled me towards the front door and out onto the front steps.

"So, I feel like I have the right to know what happened back there," Sirius started as soon as the door was shut behind him.

Despite the high level of mortification I was feeling, Sirius was looking at me with a kind smile.

"Elodie gave us all truth serum and we are playing truth or dare," I replied obediently. "Dammit!"

I felt angry with myself for instantly answering Sirius' question so blatantly.

Sirius looked at me another moment before he broke out laughing. "So, one of them dared you to kiss me?"

"No, they dared me to kiss the most attractive person in the room," I felt my cheeks heating up and wanted to melt into the falling snow out of embarrassment.

Sirius stopped laughing and looked at me more thoughtfully. "Alright, I feel like I'm at a compete advantage here. But, I don't want to coerce information out of you. So, I'll only ask one more question; is there anything you want to tell me?"

Sirius looked at me with a softer smile than I was used to. Instead of his typical swagger he looked vulnerable standing in front of me. Several truths swam into my mind but I pushed them all back. Thankfully it seemed the serum as wearing off but I couldn't ignore that despite how embarrassed I felt, I was finally facing the reality that I liked Sirius Black. So, instead of confessing a whole bunch of romantic nonsense I stepped forward and looked up into Sirius' gray eyes. He still had the same look of vulnerability in his gaze as he brought his hands so they folded over my cheeks. He then brought his head down but paused with a questioning look as if he was asking for my permission. Instead of answering I filled the space between us until my lips were on his. This time, since we were both expecting it, Sirius didn't pause. Immediately his lips felt urgent as they moved over mine. His hands moved from my cheeks down so they gripped onto my arms to root me in place. This allowed him to push his face forwards so his lips pressed harder onto mine. I had never experienced a kiss like this before and realised that without saying it Sirius and I were admitting that we both had some pretty intense feelings for each other.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on out here?!" James interrupted as he threw the front door open.

Sirius immediately broke apart which caused my anger to rise for my brother having his usual impeccable timing to ruin a good thing.

"James, why are you out here?" I asked, looking over to see Lily pulling his hand trying to get him back inside.

I could also see my friends off to the side who also looked annoyed at James. I figured they were probably the reason I had gotten this much privacy with Sirius until James finally got passed them.

"Addie, you—you can't be snogging my best mate!" James shouted irritably.

I moved to stand in between Sirius and James. James looked like he was gearing up to do something he would regret and Sirius was remaining uncharacteristically quiet.

"James, butt out. Sirius is my—" I paused abruptly as the last remnants of the truth serum wore off.

I was left standing in the middle of a very charged situation as my reserve and embarrassment returned.

"Her boyfriend," Sirius replied evenly.

I whipped my head around as I heard the excited gasps and whispers from my friends just inside the door.

"Her what? There's no way!" James roared but Lily pulled his hand back which surprised James enough to stumble backwards.

"Let them be as happy as we are James, they're your best friends and Addie is your sister. It's been pretty obvious to everyone except you and I will not let you and your arrogance mess this up!" Lily said more severely as her own temper flared.

James looked torn and frustrated but finally relented under Lily's stern gaze.

"You know, I never thought anyone was good enough to date my little sister. But, at least this way I trust who she's dating," James said sounding defeated but Sirius and James shared a knowing smile.

"Alright, now let's go!" Lily exclaimed before she reached out and closed the front door behind her so that I was alone again with Sirius.

"So, that was rather sudden…" I started, not liking how quickly my heart was beating.

"Are you kidding, I've been waiting for this for a long time. Remind me to properly thank Elodie later," Sirius said as he moved again to wrap me up into his arms.

"Yea, you're right. I think I've wanted this for a long time too," I replied before I let Sirius kiss me again, thinking that this time around Sirius had acted properly on getting me to be his girlfriend on New Year's Eve.


	14. The Blackened Prophecy

Becoming Sirius Black's girlfriend was a tiresome endeavor and it didn't have anything to do with Sirius himself. The school on the other hand made it the center of gossip that wouldn't quit as the winter semester carried out. I was used to hearing rumours of Sirius from the six years we had attended school together but it was another thing entirely when I was a part of those rumours now.

Suddenly the two bachelors of Gryffindor were in committed relationships and the school didn't know how to react. This meant that Lily and I went around the school together quite often since we found it better to face the ogling, and sometimes resentful stares and jousts, in solidarity.

Lily was also a big help with reeling James in whenever he couldn't quite take the sight of Sirius with his arm wrapped around me or kissing me quite proudly before class. Of course being Sirius Black's girlfriend meant that I needed to adapt to his more public displays of affection since he didn't seem to care for the fact that these displays roused even more attention than we were already receiving.

Sirius also didn't slow down in his usual routine of carrying on with the Marauders, all except for his flirtatious nature. That was now solely reserved just for me.

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked one night when the full moon was due to come out and I was finally voicing my concerns since finding out about Remus's fury little problem as the boys liked to put it.

"We've been doing this for two years now Ly, it's foolproof," Sirius grinned but I still felt a little uneasy about him, James and Peter going out when Remus was turned into a wolf.

"Well you are a bunch of fools," I couldn't help taking the bait and caught Sirius's rye grin that I proceeded to kiss off his face.

Sirius had adamantly persisted the other three Marauders to let me venture out with them during a full moon. James had been wholly against the idea, but since Remus agreed the argument was settled. But the only way to appease everyone was that I would only sit on the front steps of the school while James and Peter kept Remus away from us. Sirius would sit with me, turning into his animagus if necessary.

The moon was shining from its hiding place behind the clouds. I had waited fairly impatiently in the common room with Blythe giving me several sideways looks that said she knew I was planning on stealing away with Sirius once everyone else went to bed. But what I kept from my best friend and the rest of my dormmates was the rest of the plan. Even Lily didn't know about Remus yet, but it was something I felt Remus would tell her in his own time. Whereas I had found out accidentally on my own, I felt Lily was becoming someone very dear to Remus and whom he might actually tell one day.

This made me a little exasperated since I felt it was something that would spark things between him and Zelene if he were to confide in her, but I wasn't going to push them either.

"Sit here Ly, I want to show you something," Sirius practically beamed under the moonlight but I knew better to be cautious of this particular expression. "Don't look at me like that!"

My expression turned rueful before I took the seat beside Sirius on the steps that led out to the grounds to wait for Remus and the others to appear.

I continued to be skeptical watching Sirius take out a large piece of parchment from his robes.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sirius uttered the strange words but I wasn't able to say anything as I watched the parchment come alive on the page.

Sirius lit a _lumos_ charm and I was clearly able to see how the parchment turned into a kind of map of Hogwarts. I would recognise these grounds anywhere, especially since I figured I had seen more of it than most.

"Where did you get this?" I asked without holding back my surprise.

Usually I was able to suppress any shock and this was something Sirius knew about me. So his grin turned proud when he saw that he had indeed surprised me.

"We made it, the Marauders I mean," Sirius explained easily and I took the map hastily from his grip to inspect it more closely.

On the opened fold, I gazed in awe at the two name scrawls that appeared on the front stoop of Hogwarts; _Adeline Potter & Sirius Black._

I was at an immediate loss for words before seeing three more names approaching slowly from the grounds; _James Potter. Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin._

I looked up in keen interest and squinted into the darkness to make out the strange appearance of a large stag and rather wiry looking wolf near the Whomping Willow. I couldn't see Peter, but the map told me he was there and Sirius had explained that since Peter was a rat, I wouldn't be able to see him in the dark from this distance.

Sirius gripped my hand but this was his only giveaway of his anxiety. I looked over to see his proud expression, watching his friends frollicking in the grounds like it was completely normal to see a werewolf and a couple of animagi at Hogwarts.

"That's James?" I couldn't help asking what was obvious to Sirius.

But if he thought it was a stupid thing to ask, he didn't say anything. Instead he squeezed my hand and let a silence fall between us as I stared out in awe. The three boys-turned-animal didn't come any closer than the Whomping Willow, but it was close enough for a good look.

I didn't know how long it had been by the time I pried my eyes away and looked appraisingly at Sirius. He felt my gaze move and smiled knowingly, a sign of the years we had known each other.

"You want to see?" Sirius asked and I nodded with increasing curiosity.

It seemed even more bewildering to sit and watch my boyfriend turn into a creature. Sirius stood up from the stoop and walked down onto the grass. His eyes never left mine as those same eyes lowered and sank into another body.

The black dog that stood in front of me was unmistakably Sirius. Despite the fact that I had just watched the transformation, it didn't quite prove in my mind that this was real. It was the fact that the dog's shaggy, gleaming black fur was identical to Sirius's hair. It was also his gray eyes, giving me the same stare he always did.

A few seconds later Sirius reformed into a wizard once again and I stood up to touch him. My hand ran over his forehead, pushing a lock of his hair from his face. His skin was the same as always and his eyes still held my gaze.

"What do you think?" Sirius asked, sounding much less sure of himself than normal.

"You're an idiot for doing something so incredibly illegal," Sirius's expression was both disappointed and proud which was a strange mixed expression. "But you are also incredibly smart to figure out something so difficult and you are kind for doing it all for Remus."

Sirius's expression changed into something that increased my heart rate quite rapidly. And just as suddenly as it changed, his lips were crashing against mine in a sort of hungry surge. My hands wrapped into his hair and only pulled back when we both heard a howl that was most likely Remus.

"We should get going," Sirius announced, his anxiety filtering back that his human girlfriend was sitting outside when a werewolf was also roaming the grounds.

I knew he would most likely return to the rest of the Marauders once he escorted me to the common room. Sirius wouldn't let James and the others have that much fun and freedom without him.

It was also nice that he used the map so we avoided running into any professors. Things suddenly lined up in my head as to why the Marauders had far fewer detentions lately. I had chalked it up to Remus being prefect but this made much more sense.

Once we were at the Fat Lady's portrait, Sirius promptly pulled me forward and crushed his lips to mine in a flurry of affection. The disgruntled sneer of the portrait lady didn't stop Sirius from giving and taking his goodnight kiss until he was satisfied. I was admittedly winded by the time he pulled back but would never tell him that.

But the glint in his eyes and satisfied smirk told me he was content before I finally turned to head into the common room and Sirius turned with the map in hand to return to the grounds.

"Good night, Ly," Sirius called out as I stepped through the portrait hole.

I turned around and smiled as the portrait closed slowly behind me, his smile being both irritating and endearing at the same time; a perfect description of my our new relationship.

XX

Divination was usually only made bearable by the fun I had with Max and Elodie. But the professor felt like creating a better learning environment or some such nonsense, so he paired each of us up at his choosing. That was the only way I was sitting across from Adrian, arms folded crossly over my chest.

Adrian stared back, his own look of contempt apparent, but I knew I would wear him down. I had my game face on, eyeing him resolutely and with as much annoyance as I could muster, which was a lot considering my brother was James Potter.

As I predicted, which I guess was relevant to the class, Adrian finally let up with one last scowl and spoke first.

"Look Addie, I need to get my NEWT in this class, so can we just get this over with?" Adrian's question started snidely but ended up sounding more pleading.

I just gestured for him to start, indicating to the crystal ball sitting between us.

The only thing I was glad about was that we weren't reading palms today, so Adrian wouldn't have to touch my hand.

Adrian proceeded to stare into the swirling orb and referred to his book several more times than I would have thought necessary. But just before I went to scoff at his overzealous efforts, he looked up with a funny sort of look in his eyes. His stare was boring into mine, something that made me uncomfortable since we were now broken up and I was dating someone else.

"The colour black," Adrian pointed to the sudden darkening of the orb and I figured he would recite whatever the text book said about that particular colour change, "is a mark for death that will follow in your shadow until an untimely demise."

I unfolded my arms in surprise that Adrian would say something so forward and hostile. My head tilted forward, leaning towards the ever darkening globe that now felt ominous, if I was going to believe in this kind of thing.

"Two guardians will fall, but this will only be the first mark of tragedy on the name of Potter."

My mouth gaped now at Adrian before turning into a tight lipped scowl.

"Stop it. This isn't funny Adrian. What kind of sick revenge is this anyways?" I asked, not wanting to think that someone I dated would sink this low to hurt me. But Adrian kept going with his boring gaze and continued talking like I hadn't.

"Wedding bells will toll only for two lovers to fall from grace; one in shackles, one in death. Your end will be brought by your worst fear, marking the second and third tragedies."

"ENOUGH!" I stood up, pushing back my chair and catching Elodie looking over with worry since she was sitting only the next table over.

"Two boys born at summer's end…"

"What's going on over here?" Professor Medea finally came over, looking only mildly concerned that Adrian was still babbling like a crazed fool.

"…Black and Potter will always protect each other."

I missed half of what Adrian was saying now, but as soon as he paused his eyes became more focused and lost their previous glossy haze.

He continued looking at the orb before looking up at me confused.

"I think black means you're going to have a bad day, is that right professor?" Adrian asked like the last five minutes hadn't just happened, making me completely unsettled that I had just been given a cursed prophecy.

"Adrian, what the hell was all that? Do you think it's funny? Telling me, what, that I'm going to die or something?" I shouted at him before bending over to collect my rucksack.

"What are you talking about Addie?" Adrian's tone sounded sincere but I wasn't interested in any viable excuse.

Instead, I ran out of the classroom and didn't wait to see if Elodie or Max were going to follow. I started at a jog but quickly increased my speed until I was sprinting through the vacant halls until my feet felt grass under my trainers. It was like my body had an instinctual reaction every time I was upset, leading me to my broomstick that was locked in the quidditch equipment shed.

I threw my rucksack into the changerooms before jogging back out to the pitch. I swung my leg over my broom and kicked off with one foot before settling onto the broom in midair. I had been flying since I was three years old when James got his first broom for Christmas. In the freezing cold, James and I bundled in our snowsuits and practiced kicking off until our father ordered us in for dinner. Both of us had been covered in mud and bruises, but I had never been so happy. Flying felt like freedom and it was something I wanted to feel, pushing the thoughts away that told me I had just been handed a death sentence.

The orb had turned black and I knew enough about Divination to get my OWL that it did in fact foretell great tragedy, like death. But I couldn't help but make the connection that my boyfriend's surname was Black, a curse all in itself. And black was supposed to bring about death.

I shook my head at this, remembering how Sirius promised to protect both me and James the day I faced my boggart. And there was no way Sirius would ever betray me or James, or any one of us. I loved him, despite not having explicitly told him that yet.

But there was no way he was going to cause my death, let alone an _untimely_ one.

 _Two guardians will fall, but this will only be the first mark of tragedy on the name of Potter._

Guardians were most likely in reference to my parents, which I didn't want to contemplate. I was already riddled with anxiety, looking over the Prophet every morning to keep tabs on the investigations my parents were conducting.

One of three tragedies Adrian said.

The first will be my parents.

 _Wedding bells will toll only for two lovers to fall from grace; one in shackles, one in death. Your end will be brought by your worst fear, marking the second and third tragedies._

This one made less sense to me. But Adrian seemed to be referencing my death again. But my worst fear, as confirmed by my boggart in my fourth year, was James getting himself killed. How was that supposed to kill me? But somehow this would bring about the second and third tragedy for my family.

But that hadn't been all Adrian rambled on about. He mentioned something about two boys being born at the end of the summer, but that didn't add up. Sirius was born at the beginning of November and James's birthday is March 27th.

And it couldn't be Max or Wendall since they both had birthdays in May.

"Addie?" the sound of Blythe's voice cut through my whirling thoughts before I turned to find her flying idly towards me.

I slowed my flying but didn't answer her, even though she knew she'd gotten my attention.

Blythe didn't say anything at first and this was one of the reasons we had become best mates. Although Blythe was always candid when she spoke, she was also good at gauging when not to speak. And right now I needed the quiet of the quidditch pitch to clear my head.

It was twenty minutes later when I had almost slowed to a stop to idle in the air that Blythe finally said something.

"You've never been one to believe in Divination Addie. I know you only take it for an easy credit," Blythe exclaimed and I knew that Elodie must have filled her in.

I finally turned to look at her but she wasn't wearing any worried expression like the others surely would have. Another reason I got along with Blythe so well.

"I know that. And Adrian is also a git," I added but Blythe nodded at what I wasn't saying.

That despite thinking Divination was a crackpot class and that Adrian was an idiot, I was rattled nonetheless.

"You know, we could die tomorrow," such a statement was even bold by Blythe's standards so I gaped at her before she continued. "Amycus or Alecto could unseat us from our brooms during a game and we could fall to our death. One of the Death Eaters-in-waiting could corner us in the hallway like Bellatrix used to and get us with an Unforgivable. Or a war could break out with You Know Who attacking Britain and we could perish."

"Your point?" I snapped, Blythe's words only skyrocketing my anxiety.

"My point is that even if Adrian got it right, it's no reason to stop living now. As I see it, the world is changing and not for the better. If we can all get through this it'll be a bloody miracle. But I also know that Adeline Potter is no coward and won't back down because her ex is a git."

Blythe's stare held determination and I finally smiled back at her.

"Race you?" I blurted out, accepting Blythe's words as more true than Adrian's prediction. But I needed to feel alive and flying around with my best mate was a sure way of doing that.

In response Blythe took off, soaring across the pitch and I leaned forward to chase after her. Feeling the wind in my face and the cool evening air, in that moment I swore to live in spite of everything and keep pushing forward like I already had my entire life.

I would keep choosing to be with Sirius and I would keep chasing after James and keep getting stronger to protect my friends. Black might be my curse, but it was also worth fighting for.


	15. Injuries of War

Sirius and James' last year accelerated through the rest of winter and into spring with a not-so-careful balance between mischief and rule abiding, all under the watchful eye of Lily Evans. With James having maintained his position as Head Boy, he was more than willing to go along with the rules for once if it meant keeping Lily happy. I was surprised to see such a change in my brother and a little put off that someone could have such an influence over him. But if it kept mum and dad off my back asking about James then I was content to go along with it. Plus, Lily was undoubtedly the best thing to ever happen to my brother and I made sure he didn't forget it whenever he was being particularly bothersome.

But despite the regular antics of the Marauders and the hype from the seventh-years about their NEWTs, even including my boyfriend and brother who were actually serious about getting into auror training. It was only the sixth years then who were sitting in the Great Hall for a more informal study session. Max was talking quidditch to everyone who would listen while Fern was the only one actually invested in the book she had propped up in front of her.

"Adeline, might I have a word?" I looked up to see that of all people, Regulus Black had approached me and was looking expectantly.

Max scoffed and Blythe gave me a meaningful look but I shrugged and followed the Slytherin anyway. It was a lot longer than I was expecting before Regulus finally turned around to face me past the Entrance Hall and into the Transfiguration corridor.

"So, I guess I am to acknowledge your affiliation with my family now. I must say that even though Sirius has defiled the Black name, choosing a pureblood to date definitely staves off some of my mother's previous beliefs," Regulus was delayed in his introduction since Sirius and I had been dating for a few months now, but I figured it had something to do with constant pestering or maybe even a few howlers from his mother that prompted this exchange.

He was clear to the point but so was I. I didn't think of casting a hex or coming up with some clever remark. Instead, I took a point out of James's book and stepped forward, punching Regulus in the nose that sent him to the floor.

"Ah, bugger!" Regulus swore but quickly cast a charm to stop the bleeding from his broken nose. " _Episkey."_

"Sirius doesn't need your vile approval, and neither do I you pure blood mania coward!" I looked over him but missed his sleight of hand under his cloak.

" _Conjunctivitis!"_ Regulus exclaimed and immediately there was a flash in front of my eyes that impaired my vision.

"Bloody coward!" I yelled after him, hearing Regulus's retreating footsteps before I heard several others come up quickly behind me.

"Addie!"

"Oh Merlin!"

"Shit."

"What the hell happened?"

"I'll bloody well kill that cowardly snake!"

I heard Fern, Zelene, Wendall, Blythe and Max exclaim all at once.

"Is it bad?" I ran my hands gently over my eyes and gasped at how sensitive the swollen skin was around it.

"Did he hit you? You're really bruised around your eyes, can you even see?" Fern was talking more gently in front of me, always surprisingly the calm one in this type of situation.

"No, well not physically at least. He got me with a Conjunctivitis curse," I admitted, hating how I had so easily lost focus and in front of Sirius's welp of a brother no less.

Fern helped me to the infirmary while Blythe and Wendall held back Max from going after Regulus. Even though Blythe was leaning more towards Max's course of action, I convinced them not to. I think if I didn't look so defenseless being blind they might not have listened to me otherwise.

Madam Pomfrey was able to get the swelling down enough to see, but that bloody prat was skilled enough to leave marks. Both of my eyes were black as well as the bridge of my nose.

It didn't get any better when Sirius and James were the first ones I saw coming down for dinner that night. Sirius was of course the first to see, obviously noticing my bruised face despite the scarf Zelene let me borrow.

"What the fuck happened, Ly? Who the hell do I need to go murder?" Sirius's voice was deadpan serious, causing Max to crack his knuckles like he might be able to go after Regulus on Sirius's order after all.

"It's nothing. Just an antsy first year getting too riled up," I lied easily enough but Blythe of all people scoffed and immediately sold me out.

" _This,"_ Blythe gestured to my face, "was caused by your dear younger brother."

Sirius's glare turned murderous as he stared into my eyes that still wouldn't open properly all the way, making it difficult for me to match his beady stare.

"Regulus fucking did this?" James stepped forward and forcefully pulled my scarf down, causing me to wince as his knuckle grazed my bruising.

"Well I did punch him first," I shrugged, wanting to focus more on my hit rather than my face.

It was a sore spot for my pride but it seemed James and Sirius were no longer listening.

I grabbed onto Sirius's arm right as he went to follow after James who practically sprinted out of the Great Hall. Sirius pulled his arm from my grip and I stilled that Sirius really wasn't going to listen to me on this.

"Addie, he did this to you because of me! You could have gone blind or he could have used an even worse curse. I know what pureblood nonsense my mother fills his head with. If Regulus or anyone thinks they can take their anger for me out on you, I will put them in their place. I can't- Addie look at your face! I can't ignore this or let anyone get away with hurting the girl I love," Sirius's voice started in anger but dropped until it was just a hardened whisper.

All I could do was stand looking dumbstruck while Sirius sprinted off to chase after James. I could feel six sets of eyes on me from behind but I only continued to stare at the door where James and Sirius had both disappeared through. This was the first time Sirius had admitted he loved me, and I hadn't said it back.

Suddenly the words were heavy on my tongue. The worry that they were about to get themselves expelled right before graduation pushed to the back of my mind as I felt myself start to run after his frock of black hair.

"Sirius!" I shouted through the halls and thanked Godric that most everyone was in the Great Hall eating dinner so I wouldn't cause a scene.

Sirius was fit but my years of playing quidditch and training made it so I could easily catch up to him. Sirius slowed and paused, looking over his shoulder just as James disappeared at the end of the corridor. I knew he was headed towards the dungeons since Regulus hadn't made an appearance at dinner yet and I knew I couldn't hold Sirius for long.

"Ly, he can't get away with this…" Sirius started like he assumed I was looking for an argument.

But I shook my head and kept going until I crashed into him. His years of quidditch kept him on his feet but he staggered back a bit. His look of concern didn't hold as a smile took over his expression.

"What has come over you, Ly?" Sirius asked bemusedly.

"I love you too," I exclaimed breathlessly before I found his lips with mine.

I didn't want to make this some mushy display of affection since both of us were not ones for formal declarations. But after hearing Sirius' passing exclamation, it was strange how abruptly I felt the need to let him know that I felt the same. Sirius accepted the kiss after only a second of surprise and took advantage of the fact that we were in an abandoned corridor to snog quite prolifically before we both needed air.

"Now can I got avenge your honour, love?" Sirius beamed but I could still see the anger in his eyes.

I sighed and arched up onto my tiptoes to kiss his forehead.

"Just don't do anything illegal and don't blow your chances of auror training this close to graduation," I offered a rueful smile before letting go of our embrace and watched Sirius sprint off again down towards the dungeons.

It ended up that Sirius and James never told me what they did to Regulus and there were no physical markings that I could see to give it away. I assumed Remus and Peter knew but there were some secrets that were only Marauder savvy and I was more than willing to accept my role as willfully ignorant since I loved to able to plead innocent when asked by my parents. This did not mean however that danger and threat of expulsion didn't increase in probability all the way up until exams and the last days of school.

Not only were James and Sirius anxious to become aurors but the Slytherin gang were obviously gearing up to join the Death Eater ranks. It got so bad that none of us were willing to walk alone in the corridors after my run-in with one Regulus Black. That was why I was walking with Fern to the library after our final exam to help her return the mountain of books she had in her extendibly-charmed rucksack.

"Stop this at once, Severus!" Lily's shouts could be heard from the other end of the hallway.

I knew we were headed towards the Slytherin common room as we broke out in full throttle. I also knew not to hold my breath that whatever was happening didn't involve my brother. Fern kept pace beside me while we both took our wands out at the ready.

We took the corner at a sharp turn and I saw Fern freeze at the sight that appeared in front of us. A boorish looking Slytherin was blocking Lily, a new member among the Slytherin cronies who I didn't readily recognise, while Snape faced off a few paces away with James. I knew James' focus was torn between Snape and Lily and it looked like Lily might have been hit, with her lip split. This is how I could tell James was seeing red.

"James, please!" Lily beckoned frantically and even though James shook his head, his attention swayed for a moment just for Snape to take advantage of it.

I hadn't stopped like Fern did. Her automatic response being to freeze while mine was to run and fight. By this point I was almost beside James. Everything happened at once, James turning away from Lily to side glance at me just as the words left Snape's curled lips.

" _Sectumsempra!"_ Snape shouted the unfamiliar curse and I couldn't stop to deflect it in time.

So I kept running and absorbed the curse with my body instead, instantly dropping to the ground as I felt my body being torn into pieces. I wanted to scream but all that came out was a whimper.

"Addie, fuck— what did that slimy bastard do to you?" James's voice above me was a mixture of hatred and fear.

I opened my eyes but the pain was blinding and all I could see when I lifted my arm was blood.

"James, this is a dark curse. We need to get her to the hospital wing or she'll bleed out and die!" Fern was direct, gaining control of the situation automatically.

Fern was always quiet and a little bit timid, but she was always the best to have around in terrible situations.

"Potter, what's happened?" I heard the familiar voice of McGonagall and thought maybe Lily had gone to get her.

I could feel my back soaking with what was presumably blood and my vision started to blur.

"Evans, help Madam Pomfrey!" McGonagall ordered but their voices were dimming.

I was angry Snape of all people had gotten the better of me, but I could only think that I was so relieved I had gotten to James in time.

"Addie, you idiot, it should have been me. It was meant for me!" James's whispers were fervent in my ear as he presumably walked beside me since I could feel myself floating, most likely at the hands of the school's matron.

I only hoped she stifled the bleeding so I wasn't leaking out down the corridors. Plus I didn't think I had much to spare at this point. Whatever spell Snape used, it was meant to swiftly kill its opponent.

I could feel James's shaky hand on mine before I finally fell unconscious.


End file.
